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).
Despite the loss, Avery County still got an impressive performance from Maddy Barrett, who 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.
Mountain Heritage's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Lilly Neill, who scored 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.
Avery County's defeat was their fifth straight at home, which bumped their record down to 6-7. As for Mountain Heritage, the victory was the seventh in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 11-2.
Avery County won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against Madison at 6:30 p.m. on January 12th. Mountain Heritage won't have much time to rest: their next matchup is against Mitchell at 6:00 p.m. on January 12th.
