The Avery County Vikings will challenge the McDowell Titans at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.
Avery County will head into Friday's match on the come-up: they were handed a 29-point defeat in their previous outing, but that didn't affect their clutch gene on Friday. They narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past Smoky Mountain 63-60. While the Vikings didn't have the best season last year (they finished 10-16), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.
| 12/27/24 vs Smoky Mountain | 20 |
| 12/26/24 @ McDowell | 25 |
| 12/19/24 vs Draughn | 20 |
Hank Johnson continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, going 6 for 12 on his way to 20 points and six rebounds. The game was his third in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Kaleb Liner, who posted ten points and five rebounds.
Meanwhile, McDowell came tearing into Friday's contest with five straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 16.2 points) and they left with even more momentum. Couldn't have asked for a better way to wrap up 2024 than the 87-49 stomp they got against the Cavaliers. The Titans' offense stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most points they've scored all season.
Avery County better keep an eye on Rylan Parkins. He was instrumental in McDowell's win, putting up 31 points. Parkins has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last three times he's played. Derrick Forney Jr was another key player, posting 17 points.
McDowell's victory was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 9-1. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 26.3 points. As for Avery County, their win bumped their record up to 8-3.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as Avery County and McDowell are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Avery County hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 65.5 points per game. However, it's not like McDowell struggles in that department as they've been averaging 71.8 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Avery County took a serious blow against McDowell when the teams last played on Thursday, falling 80-51. That matchup was all but decided by halftime, at which point Avery County was down 44-23.
