After flying high against NCSSM: Morganton last Friday, the Avery County Vikings came back down to earth. Avery County fell 56-43 to Mountain Heritage on Thursday. While losing is never fun, Avery County can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 249th, while Mountain Heritage is ranked 34th).
When it comes to explaining why Avery County lost, one person who can't be blamed is Maddy Barrett. Despite the final result, she scored 18 points along with two steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Barrett has scored all season. Hannah Mace was another key contributor, scoring ten points.
Avery County struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only two offensive rebounds. That's the fewest offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Avery County bumped their record down to 6-7 with that defeat, which was their fifth straight at home. As for Mountain Heritage, the win (which was their seventh in a row) raised their record to 11-2.
Coincidentally, both teams will both be playing Madison the next time they take the court. Avery County will host Madison at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, while Mountain Heritage will host them at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
