Avery County is 0-10 against Mountain Heritage since February of 2021 but things could change on Wednesday. The Avery County Vikings will challenge the Mountain Heritage Cougars at 6:30 p.m. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Last Friday, Avery County came up short against Mitchell and fell 60-53.
Caroline Hollifield
| 01/17/25 @ Mitchell | 20 |
| 01/09/25 @ Madison | 12 |
| 12/26/24 @ McDowell | 6 |
| 01/02/25 vs McDowell | 4 |
| 12/27/24 vs Smoky Mountain | 4 |
Despite the defeat, Avery County saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Caroline Hollifield went 7 for 14 on her way to 20 points and six boards. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Hollifield has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Marley Jones, who almost dropped a double-double on 11 points and nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, Mountain Heritage entered their game against Pisgah on Saturday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. Mountain Heritage fell to Pisgah 55-51. While losing is never fun, the Cougars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 93rd, while the Bears are ranked 30th).
Avery County will need focus on slowing down Lilly Neill, one of several Mountain Heritage players who made an impact when they last played. She dropped a double-double on 14 points and 15 boards. Neill has been hot, having also posted three or more steals the last six times she's played. Peyton Mckinney also deserves some recognition as she posted her first block of the season.
Mountain Heritage's loss ended a six-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 12-3. As for Avery County, their defeat was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 4-1 and their overall record down to 10-4.
Avery County was dealt a bruising 68-33 loss at the hands of Mountain Heritage in their previous matchup back in February of 2024. That contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point Avery County was down 36-5.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
