Category: High School

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — For a while, No. 8 seeded Watauga kept within striking distance of No. 9 Independence (Charlotte), but the athletic visitors with a size advantage proved too much for the Pioneers on this night, knocking the High Country’s favorite sons out of the 4A state playoffs with a 76-51 Patriots win.

A packed house at Lentz Eggers Gym held out hope for a late rally until the third quarter. After halftime, Independence proved very skilled in getting hands on ball-only to disrupt Watauga drives to the basket and not draw very many fouls. On the other end, they used their height advantage inside the paint to score layups and deadly shooting from the perimeter including five 3-pointers.

The Patriots were led in scoring by cat-like guard Yancey Thomason’s game-high 20 points, along with 17 points from Kaleb Jaspers and 15 from freshman forward Lusemo Macharia. A 6-6 senior forward, Tosh Alberga added 8 points and sophomore forward Jaxson Neely contributed seven points.

Few of the Pioneers could get adequate penetration to the rim or hit from the outside with Independence’s suffocating defense — with the possible exception of 6-5 senior forward Jackson Pryor (16 points) and junior point guard Maddox Greene (13). Josiah Railey added nine points and sophomore guard Cade Keller, eight. Senior forward Wyatt Kohout was frequently frustrated in driving the lane. All of his five points on the night came from the charity stripe.

The loss brings to an end of a remarkable Pioneer season, recording a 22-6 overall record, 9-1 in conference play. Their performance included both a regular season Northwestern Conference championship as well as a conference tournament title.

 

 

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Call them the High Country’s basketball miracle workers. Trailing North Mecklenburg by as many as 13 points early in the third quarter, host Watauga closed the gap with five 3-pointers by players not named Kate Sears, who added one long distance herself in that pivotal stanza — and a game-high total of 37 points in the Pioneers’ thrilling, 73-68 win in the second round of the North Carolina 4A playoffs.

BONUS PHOTOS at bottom of article

With the win, No. 1 seeded Watauga advances in the playoffs to host No. 8 Mallard Creek on Tuesday, March 5, at 6 p.m. in Lentz Eggers Gym.

By no means should anyone understate the role and impact of Sears in this game. Her 37 points was slightly more than half of the Pioneers’ winning point total. The junior point guard was relentless in driving down the lane to the rim and/or drawing Viking fouls in the process.

And yet, the turning point in the contest came in that third quarter when not Sears, but her supporting cast finally began to bury the 3-pointers they couldn’t so much get in the first half. Torgerson was good for two made shots from behind the arc in the third period and added another in the fourth quarter. Kaitlyn Darner, Laney Shook and Julie Matheson also had “treys” that contributed to the Pioneers 21-point third stanza. It shrank the 13-point deficit in the early part of the Q3 to just three points at the start of the fourth quarter (55-52).

Energized by a capacity crowd more than 75 percent filled with Pioneer supporters and the Watauga hoopsters played inspired basketball at both ends of the court in the final period, outscoring North Mecklenburg 21-11. They swatted away Viking passes and disrupted possessions with pesky defense, rebounded the basketball, and created turnover after turnover to ice the victory.

Sears’ 37 was not the only Pioneer in double figures. Shook had 14 and Torgerson tallied 13. The Vikings were led by senior point guard Boston Bates (25 points), freshman forward Lenise Joseph (21) and freshman guard Morgan Knox (10).

It was clear even before the opening tipoff that North Meck was likely to control the paint with a distinct height advantage and high level of athleticism. If Watauga was to win, a major portion of their points would have to come from the perimeter. Nine 3-pointers, including two by Sears among her 37 total points, played a major role in achieving the winning margin.

Watauga head coach Bill Torgerson aptly offered his analysis to reporters after the game.

“Obviously, Kate carried us at the beginning of the game and scored all of our points,” said the Pioneers’ first year head coach, but with two basketball-playing daughters in high school he is a veteran observer. “Kate has been through what I would call the ‘travel wars.’ I am referring to the summer basketball she plays. So, she is fearless and not intimidated by anyone.

“With Kate’s big first quarter, she started drawing more defenders and that’s when our other players had some opportunities that they were able to take advantage of,” Torgerson added. “Laney Shook was the first of them by scoring seven points in the second quarter. Laney was also doing a pretty good job on North Meck’s No. 30, Lenise Joseph, who really hurt us in the first three quarters.”

Reflecting on his message to the team at halftime, Torgerson encouraged his charges to get back to the basics of Pioneer women’s basketball and what was instrumental to their success in 2023-24.

“Down by eight at the half, we talked about poise on offense and our transition defense,” said Torgerson. “We were rattled (in the first half) by North Meck’s defense, not executing our offense, and taking really tough shots. Those shots turned into easy baskets for North Meck. And then, we also just talked about making sure we had players back on our shot attempts and that we were finding their ‘bigs’ running the floor.

“Kate also did a great job defending and helping on their bigs,” Torgerson added. “I think she led us with 12 rebounds.”

Torgerson was also quick to praise the support of the fans for Pioneer basketball.

“It was an incredible atmosphere. The crowd was as loud as I’ve ever heard it,” he said. “I felt like the players showed a lot of grit and perseverance as they fought for that win and created an opportunity to get to play again next week.”

Watauga’s head coach knows that what lies ahead will be yet another challenge for his Pioneers.

“We’ll play Mallard Creek next week. They beat North Meck three times this year,” he pointed out. “So, it will be a huge challenge for us. They put an incredible amount of pressure on the ball and the passing lanes. We’re just really excited to get to come to practice on Saturday and have the chance to prepare for another game.”

BONUS PHOTOS

By David Rogers. LENOIR, N.C. — It was a clear, chilly day, but all six members of Watauga High School Men’s Golf team finished nine holes at Cedar Rock Country Club within four shots of each other on Feb. 29, capturing first place team honors in the non-conference  competition.

Led by Jake Warren and Elliot Holcomb each shooting a 41, the Pioneers collectively recorded the low team score of 168, four strokes ahead of Hibriten, who claim Cedar Rock as their “home course.”

“We are off to a solid start this year,” said Watauga men’s coach Klay Anderson. “We return five of our top six players from last year and have won our first four non-conference matches in 2024. We also have some new players who are great additions to the team. Altogether, the boys are focused on trying to improve on our third place conference finish a year ago.”

Team Scores

1. Watauga (168)
2. Hibriten (172)
3. North Wilkes (179)
4. South Caldwell (181)
5. Wilkes Central (188)
6. West Wilkes (198)

Watauga Individual Scores

• Jake Warren (41)
• Elliot Holcomb (41)
• Chris Moore (43)
• Dylan Taylor (43)
• Bryson Hawkins (44)
• JB Harris (45)

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — In the first half of Watauga’s Feb. 27 first round matchup against Reagan (Pffaftown) in the 2024 state playoffs, the Pioneers allowed the Raiders to score almost willy-nilly from inside the paint and had trouble executing their preferred, up-tempo, transition style of play. With some critical halftime adjustments, Watauga all but forced Reagan to attack from the perimeter — and reignited their fast-paced play in transition pull even at 38-38 in the third quarter and push ahead to a 73-64 victory.

Both teams appeared evenly matched at the beginning, though Reagan seemed to have the edge. Perhaps the Pioneers recalled having been defeated by the Raiders earlier in the year, but as the local quintet grew more confident, the tide shifted. Watauga outscored Reagan, 47-35 after halftime to win the day.

Much of the second half rally was fueled by the play of sophomore guard Cade Keller. His and teammate Josiah Railey’s respective 9-point second quarters gave momentum to the Pioneers going into the break, offsetting a 10-point performance by Reagan’s K J Ford in the period. Railey, Keller and senior forward Wyatt Kohout broke things open, however, after the break. A Railey “dunk” in the third period seemed energize the Pioneers, whose outlet passes from defensive rebound to a sprinting Maddox Greene, Keller, or Railey to bring the ball upcourt in transition attack overwhelmed the Raider defensive efforts.

Watauga only recorded four 3-pointers in this game, two by Keller in the second half. The rest of the time they were finishing fast breaks with successful drives to the basket — or getting fouled by this or that Raider for a free trip to the charity stripe.

Give Reagan credit. The No. 26 seeded Raiders stayed in this game until the bitter end. Ford finished the night with a game-high 26 points, but only got serious help from Jayden McCrae (12 points). Meanwhile, Keller, Railey, Kohout and senior center/forward Jackson Pryor tallied, 23, 20, 13 and 13, respectively to lead the Pioneers.

With the win, No. 8 seeded Watauga earns the right to host No. 9 Independence on Mar. 1. The winner advances to face either top-seeded Myers Park or No. 16 Ardrey Kell.

In Round 1, No. 1 Myers Park defeated No. 32 Mallard Creek, 82-45; No. 16 Ardrey Kell edged No. 16 Southwest Guilford, 70-68; and No. 9 Independence dispatched No. 24 Cox Mill, 70-63.

“Our guys were inspired by a pre-game article by High School OT suggesting that this was the most likely upset of the first round,” said Pioneer head coach Bryson Payne. “That didn’t sit too well with them.”

Biggest upset in the West bracket from the first round undoubtedly goes to No. 27 Marvin Ridge, a 62-47 winner over No. 6-seeded McDowell, in Marion.

 

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Just call Watauga’s Kate Sears the Energizer Bunny. Her 33 points matched the total offensive production of the Pioneers’ opponent, South Iredell — but, oh, there were 43 more points scored from up and down the Watauga lineup in the No. 1 seeded team’s domination of the No. 32 seeded Vikings, 76-33, in Round 1 of the NCHSAA 4A West bracket of the state basketball playoffs.

With the win, Watauga advances to host Round 2 on Friday, Mar. 1. They will face No. 16 North Mecklenburg, which defeated No. 17 Asheville, 86-53, at the same time the Pioneers were dismantling South Iredell.

Sears scored all of her points in the first three quarters, then sat on the sideline with most of the starters to watch the bench players outplay the Vikings in the final stanza, 9-4.

For Sears and the rest of the starters it was business as usual. In addition to Sears’ 33 points, backcourt tandem mate Charlotte Torgerson tallied 13 points, including her 1,000th career point as a Pioneer. Junior guard Julie Matheson added 12, freshman guard Blair Haines contributed seven points and guard Kaitlyn Darner hit with four points to complete the majority of the home team’s scoring in Lentz Eggers Gym on Feb. 27.

South Iredell was plagued with ball-handling foibles for most of the game while under pressure from the Pioneers, although senior forward Kayden Johnson (12 points) and Claire Humm (10) managed to get into double figures for the Vikings.

Watauga now boasts a 22-5 overall record for the 2023-24 campaign. South Iredell’s season ends with a 9-18 record.

By David Rogers. RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina High School Athletic Association released the state playoff brackets Saturday afternoon and there is a lot of local interest in the High Country.

The Pioneers’ women’s team sported a stellar 21-5 overall record and 9-2 Northwestern Conference record, including a dominant showing in the past week’s NWC conference tourney to win the championship, and were rewarded with the No. 1 seed in the NCHSAA Women’s 4A West Bracket. In the first round, Watauga will stay at home and host the No. 32 seed, South Iredell (Statesville) on Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 6 p.m., the men to follow at approximately 7:30 p.m.

Watauga’s other NWC tournament championship team, the Pioneer men, drew a No. 8 seed and will face No. 25 Reagan High School of Pfafftown, a suburb of Winston-Salem. That game will also be at Lentz Eggers Gym on Feb. 27, following the women’s contest.

In Reagan, the Pioneers’ men will face a team that put together a 14-11 overall record, 6-8 in the highly competitive 4A Central Piedmont Conference where they earned a fourth place finish. In the 4A West, Reagan is ranked No. 26, its position strengthened by a 10.8 strength of schedule. Watauga is ranked just three spots ahead of the Raiders, at No. 23, its gaudy record somewhat discounted in the rankings because a strength of schedule rating of only 2.8.

The winner between Reagan and Watauga will advance to face the winner of No. 9 Independence (Charlotte) and No. 24 Cox Mill (Concord).

When it comes to the North Carolina State Playoffs, the final seedings are only a suggestion of strongest teams and their positionings. Lower seeds coming out of strong conferences, especially those coming out of more urban leagues that may be stronger, top to bottom, frequently upset higher seeds. So, Watauga will have to come out firing on all cylinders.

The Watauga women’s team faces a similar situation as the No. 1 seed. Their No. 32 seeded opponent was the fifth place finisher in a strong 4A Greater Metro Conference with a losing overall record (9-17) and a losing conference record (5-8), but at least one of their conference wins was against a team ranked higher in the final conference standings (West Cabarrus).

The winner of the first round pairing of Watauga and South Iredell advances to a second round matchup with either No. 16 North Mecklenburg (Charlotte) or No. 17 Asheville.

Other 4A men’s teams of interest include:

• No. 18 South Caldwell @ No. 15 East Forsyth
• No. 1 Myers Park vs. No. 32 Mallard Creek
• No. 2 Lake Norman vs. No. 31 Parkland
• No. 3 Weddington vs. No. 30 East Mecklenburg
• No. 28 T C Roberson @ No. 5 North Mecklenburg

Other 4A women’s teams of interest include:

• No. 30 South Caldwell @ No. 3 Charlotte Catholic
• No. 10 Alexander Central vs. No. 23 Southwest Guilford
• No. 2 Lake Norman vs. No. 31 Cuthbertson

Other Regional Men’s Teams in State Playoffs:

• 3A – No. 1 Hickory vs. No. 32 West Charlotte
• 3A – No. 9 Freedom vs. No. 24 South Point
• 3A – No. 7 A C Reynolds vs. No. 26 North Davidson

Other Regional Women’s Teams in State Playoffs:

• 3A – No. 19 Freedom @ No. 14 North Davidson
• 3A – No. 11 Hibriten vs. No. 22 Hickory
• 3A – No. 7 Ashe County vs. No. 26 Franklin
• 1A – No. 17 Avery County @ No. 16 Rosman

 

 

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — There was a lot of “good” and hardly any “bad” — but it is hard to dismiss the “ugly” in the Watauga men’s basketball Northwestern Conference tournament championship win on Feb. 23, 63-56, over Alexander Central.

One onlooker among the standing room only, jam-packed Lentz Eggers Gym opined afterward, “That was some of the best high school basketball and some of the worst high school basketball by a single team in the same game.”

The Good

As junior point guard Maddox Greene told High Country Sports after the game, “We wanted to come out strong. Put the pedal to the metal, so to speak.”

And they did.

With 1:34 to go in the first quarter, the Pioneers led the visiting Cougars, 25-4. Watauga’s punishing defense had Alexander Central suffering a more than five-minute scoring drought. Meanwhile, the Pioneers were running their up-tempo, transition offense to near perfection.

By halftime, Watauga established a daunting, 37-16 lead. At the end of the third quarter, the Pioneers were ahead, 51-31, appearing to be running away with the result.

The Ugly

But then, the wheels of the all but assumed victory wagon started squeaking, perhaps even howling. The Pioneers got cocky and complacent. In short, they grew careless and the Alexander Central quintet took advantage.

Instead of playing “keep away” and burn time off the clock to protect the 20-point lead, the Pioneers put up some reckless shots from behind the arc (that did not go in) and lost possession, numerous times. With a couple of minutes left to play, Alexander Central had shrunk the deficit to just seven points and the packed Cougar stands behind their favorite sons’ bench started whispering, “Can we possibly pull off this unlikely, come-from-behind thriller?”

Fortunately for the Pioneers, there were some big shots that finally went in to keep the lead at around 10 points and with time winding down, Alexander Central was forced to foul. Almost all of those trips to the charity stripe were by Greene, who finished the night making 7-of-10 free throw attempts, accounting for a good chunk of his 17 points. And it was those calmly made free throws that proved the final dagger for the Cougars.

In one fourth quarter timeout, Pioneer head coach Payne said he told his guys, “Just settle down and finish this with good decisions.”

Pioneer senior guard Wyatt Kohout shot 50 percent from beyond the arc (5-of-10 attempts), on his way to a game-high 19 points. Forward Jackson Pryor recorded a double-double, with 14 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Kohout and Pryor were both named to the all-tournament team, Greene garnered tournament MVP honors.

Few in the building will forget Watauga’s dominating, “statement” lead through three quarters of play. They may or may not remember the near collapse in the fourth quarter.

Payne said he was proud of the team’s ability to cope with adversity, even if some of it was self-inflicted. He noted that several of the guys have been with the program in its rebuilding phase and are now seeing the fruits of their labors. Long time coach and athletic administrator in the region, Marc Payne, stated that Watauga’s 21 wins this season is a program record and that this was the second Northwestern Conference tournament championship for the Pioneers in program history. The first, according to longtime WATA radio announcer Mike Kelly, now retired, came in 1971-72.

The Pioneers now await the Feb. 24 release of the North Carolina 4A State Playoffs pairings. As the No. team in the Northwestern Conference, they are assured of at least a fairly high seed and a first round home game on Tuesday. That will take place after Watauga women’s first round home game, the guys probably to start at 7:30 p.m. or 8 p.m.

 

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — With a sprinkling of college scouts in the standing room only crowd on Feb. 23 in Lentz Eggers Gym, Watauga junior point guard Kate Sears put on a show, teammate Julie Matheson buried back-to-back 3-pointers to get the Pioneers jumpstarted, then fellow guard Kaitlyn Darner picked up any slack with 3-of-4 shooting from behind the 3-point arc. Without question, the Watauga Pioneers left little doubt as to who the best women’s basketball team in the 3A/4A Northwestern Conference was, dispatching a plucky Hibriten side, 68-46.

BONUS PHOTOS at bottom of article

The pre-game scuttlebutt was that representatives of App State, James Madison, Davidson, and Wake Forest — and maybe others — were in attendance to watch Sears & Co. perform in the NWC Tournament Championship game. Sears, who has been on various schools’ respective radars since as early as her 6^th grade season with Blowing Rock’s middle school team, did not disappoint. She poured in 28 points, grabbed 15 rebounds (13 on the defensive end, depriving Hibriten of second chance opportunities), and distributed the ball unselfishly to teammates for seven assists. She shot 50 percent from the field, stuck 4-of-7 from behind the arc, and made 6-of-7 free throws. Unsurprisingly, she was named tournament MVP.

Darner’s 3-pointers accounted for the majority of her 15 points on the night while Matheson’s 63 percent shooting from the field, including 3-of-5 from long range, were part of a 13-point total for her evening’s work. Their performances earned both Darner and Matheson selections to the all-tournament team, joining Sears.

Elsewhere, sophomore forward Laney Shook cleared the boards for seven rebounds and scored five points. Charlotte Torgerson (4 points) and freshman Blair Haines (3 points, coming off the bench) rounded out the Pioneer scoring.

To describe Hibriten as “plucky” is an understatement. After upsetting heavily favored Ashe County in the tournament semifinals, the Panthers figured to be a stiff challenge, at least, for the Pioneers. The one-two punch of senior guard Emma Poarch (15 points) and freshman guard Aamori Patterson (11) were joined in double figures scoring by forward Jada Brown (10), who is one of the state’s top triple jumpers in track and field. Both Poarch and Patterson earned spots on the all-tournament team.

Watauga head coach Bill Torgerson was enthusiastic after the game about what is Pioneers had accomplished with the NWC tournament championship.

“The players really delivered one of their best performances of the year in one of the most important games,” note Torgerson. “Hibriten has some really talented shooters and scorers and lots of players did things really well that won’t show up in the box score. Take Diane McGlamery and Gracie Lawrence, for example. Both of them did a really good job of defending inside and not requiring help and that allowed the rest of our players to contest shooters. And a player such as Laney Shook had two really strong rebounding games in the tournament that helped us win.”

Watauga’s first year head coach could not contain his admiration for what Sears is accomplishing.

“Kate Sears played really well and has a lot of extra things to navigate,” said Torgerson. “There were quite a few college coaches at the game and everyone is always telling her, ‘give me thirty tonight Kate.’ So, that’s a lot for a teenager to navigate and she delivered with a strong shooting night, an amazing night on the boards, and did a great job of finding her teammates.

Finally, he added, “I was really happy for Kaitlyn Darner and Julie Matheson to make the all-tournament team. Julie really gave us a big spark in the championship game knocking down a couple of early 3-point shots. Kaitlyn also shot it really well and played excellent defense. She also got some key deflections and steals in the tournament. When we’re playing zone and trying to get to shooters, she and Charlotte Torgerson make a great defensive team.”

The Pioneers now await who they will face in the first round of the state playoffs. As the top 4A seed from the Northwestern Conference, they are assured of at least one home game on Tuesday, Feb. 27, with tipoff at Lentz Eggers Gym scheduled for either 6 p.m. or 6:30 p.m., depending largely on from where their opponent will need to travel.

BONUS PHOTOS

All photographic images by David Rogers