The Avery Middle School Panthers girls and boys teams traveled to Bakersville to play Bowman Middle school. The Avery girls started strongly and took a 10-4 lead at the end of the first quarter. Early in the second, the Lady Panthers ignited their fast break offense as their dominating 1-3-1 defense created turnovers that they converted into quick fast break points that expanded the Avery lead to 12. The third quarter was very much the same as Avery continued to excel on both ends of the court and led by a score of 26-6 at the end of 3. In the 4th quarter, the Panthers closed out the win by a final score of 30-12. This win keeps the Avery girls undefeated on the season with a 6-0 in conference play. The leading scorers were: Lauren Burleson and Breanna Heaton scored 8 points apiece as they created many fast break opportunities, and Haley Woody battled hard inside to score 8 points also. The Panthers will be back at home Thursday the 19th to take on Cane River. In the boys game, the Panthers picked up right where they left off last week as they were easy winners against the Bulldogs. Chance Watson led the Avery offensive attack early as he hit multiple 3 pointers to stretch an early lead. The Avery defense with the stabilizing influence of Chase Buchanan and James Stewart created several steals with both Watson and Kobe Pittman converting them into fast break points. At halftime the Panthers led 22-8, and they went on to win by a final score of 48-19. With the win the Avery boys move to 5-1 on the season, and are in sole possession of 2nd place, with an opportunity to move into first with a win Thursday against Cane River. As well as the Avery boys are playing now, it looks like that will happen. The Cranberry Middle School girls team traveled to Burnsville and upset 2nd ranked East Yancey. The big win moved Cranberry into sole possession of 3rd place in the Conference with a 3-3 record.