The Ava Junior Varsity Bears defeated Cabool on the home floor Monday night but lost to Willow Springs and Thayer on the road.
Monday’s game with Cabool was postponed from Feb. 1 when snow forced the cancellation of the match.
The Bears jumped out to a 24-6 lead in the first quarter. “We hit three first-quarter 3-point basket and got numerous steals from our press”, Coach Nathan Houk said. The Bears took a 19-point lead to the dressing room at halftime, which allowed 12 different players to see action.
All 12 players scored, Coach Houk added.
Individual scoring had Austin Casey with 12 points, Ben Loge 9, Kevin Philpott 8, Zach Bray 6, Kody Kutz 5, Dexter Fish and Chase Dixon 3 each, Phillip Eubanks, Jesse Johnson, Tyler Cox and Chris Cox 2 points each, and Caleb Miles 1 point.
The JV Bears traveled to Willow Springs last Friday night and suffered a 57-43 loss.
Coach Houk said the very good Willow Springs team dominated his Bears inside, as indicated by 24 points from their post player.
“We couldn’t keep him off the board or from catching it inside,” Houk said.
“It seemed if they weren’t throwing him the ball, he was getting the rebound from every missed shot and putting it back in the basket,” Coach Houk added.
Ava’s full-court pressure created some turnovers, but it wasn’t enough to overcome and 11-point deficit going into the fourth quarter.
Casey and Johnson led the Bears with 13 points, Kutz added 7, Loge and Miles 4 apiece, and Dixon and Fish had a basket each.
On Tuesday night the JV Bears traveled to Thayer where they suffered a 43-34 loss to the Bobcats.
Coach Houk said his Bears had to work hard to get an open shot against the zone defense of a very good Thayer team.
Thayer’s defense kept Ava out of rhythm.
Too many turnovers became the downfall of the Ava squad.
“We made enough stops on defense to make a run,” Houk said, “but couldn’t take care of the basketball.”
Fish led the Bears with 8 points, followed by Miles 7, Loge 7, Kutz 5, Philpott 5 and Chris Cox 2.
