Feb 21, 2008

The Ava junior varsity basketball team wrapped up its season over the weekend in the Marshfield Tournament. Ava played Thayer in the final home game on Feb. 5 and won 56-49. The Bears had four players in double figures and were led in scoring by Logan Dickens with 13 points. Matt Ritter, Brock Mitchell, and Pete Leonard each had 12 points. The scoring rounded out with Austin Clayton, Sean Evans, and Austin Underwood all having a bucket. Ava played without one of the team’s better guards, Trae Shelton, due to sickness, so beating Thayer was a big accomplishment, according to Coach Nathan Houk. Ava’s next three games took place in the Marshfield JV Tournament. The Bears lost their first two games to Marshfield and Mountain Grove, but beat Morrisville which ended up winning the round robin tournament. That put Ava with a record of 1-2 in the tournament. In the Morrisville game Ava was led in scoring by Shelton who had 18 second-half points and 22 for the game. Mitchell ended with 18 and Underwood had a season high 13 points. Clayton had a bucket and Greg Lansdown and Sean Evans each had a free-throw. Ava got off to a slow start, and was down by five at halftime. Ava’s defense picked up in the second half. Shelton and Mitchell combined for numerous steals, and Ava was able to outscore Morrisville 25-4 in the third quarter and ended up winning the game 57-46. The Bears’ last regular season game was against Cabool on Feb. 15. Ava started out slow and was fortunate to have a 19-12 lead at halftime. “We were able to use our defense to speed up the pace of the game in the third quarter,” Coach Houk said, and the Bears outscored Cabool 22-4. This gave Ava a 41-16 lead going into the fourth and allowed some of the other freshman to get some valuable minutes. Taylor Coonts, Austin Clayton and Dalton Allen came into the game and did a great job on both ends of the floor, Houk said. Ava was led in scoring by Pete Leonard and Underwood with 12 points a piece. Dickens had 6 points, Ritter 7, Shelton 4 and Lansdown 3 points. Evans and Mitchell each had a bucket. The victory over Cabool gave Ava's junior varsity a 4-1 record in the conference with their only loss being to Willow Springs. The Bears were unable to play Houston and Salem due to the bad weather conditions. Ava ended the season with a 14-6 record. “I think our success was due to the talent level of our kids, and the hard work put in by coaches and players,” Coach Houk said. “Our freshman, junior varsity and varsity teams worked hard through the season and improved with each game. I'm proud of our progress. Coach (Jeff) Cope has the program headed in the right direction. I'm proud to be a part of the coaching staff,” said Coach Houk.