The Mountain Heritage Cougars came tearing into Thursday's game with six straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 32 points) and they left with even more momentum. They walked away with a 56-43 victory over Avery County. Given Mountain Heritage's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 34th, while Avery County is ranked 249th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Mountain Heritage's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Lilly Neill led the charge by scoring 12 points along with nine rebounds and three steals. Neill is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last six games she's played. Another player making a difference was Ava Webb, who scored nine points along with five steals.
Despite the loss, Avery County still got an impressive performance from Maddy Barrett, who scored 18 points along with two steals. That's the first time this season that Barrett scored 15 or more points. The team also got some help courtesy of Hannah Mace, who scored 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.
Mountain Heritage is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 11-2 record this season. As for Avery County, their defeat was their fifth straight at home, which bumped their record down to 6-7.
Mountain Heritage will head out on the road to face off against Mitchell at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. As for Avery County, they will be playing at home against Madison at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
