The Ava Middle School Bears opened the 2011-2012 basketball season at West Plains on Nov. 15.
The visiting Bears won the 7th grade game 38-16. The Bears jumped out to a 15-7 first quarter lead and extended the lead throughout the contest.
Anthony Rosas led the scoring for Ava with 22 points, followed by Peyton Ingram and Nick Sterling with four points each. Tyler Pellham and Chase Dodson scored three points each, and Nate Crandall scored two points to round out the scoring for the Bears.
West Plains won the 8th grade game 61-17. The Zizzers jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Colton Overcast led Ava’s scoring with five points, followed by Nate Bray and Caleb McFarlin with four points each. Austin Potts scored two points; Reece Goforth and Hayden Schuster chipped in one point each to complete the scoring for the Bears.
The Bears played at Mountain Grove on Thursday, Nov. 17. Mountain Grove defeated the Bears 41-33 in the 7th grade contest. The Panthers led 10-6 after one quarter and held their largest lead at 34-20 after three periods of play. The Bears rallied to within six points in the final period but were unable to catch the Panthers.
Anthony Rosas led the scoring for the Bears with 14 points, followed by Nick Sterling with seven points. Peyton Ingram and Chase Dodson contributed four points each; Nate Crandall and Tyler Pellham added two points each to wrap up the scoring for Ava.
The Panthers defeated the Bears 37-36 in the 8th grade contest. The Bears jumped out to an early lead and held a 21-11 halftime advantage. The Bears maintained the lead until the Panthers took the lead for the first time with only seconds remaining in the game.
Ava’s scoring was led by 17 points from Caleb McFarlin and nine points from Austin Potts. The remainder of the scoring for the Bears included: Nate Bray 6, Chance Dobbs 2, and Cody Stofer 2.
