Category: High School

By David Rogers. WEST JEFFERSON, N.C. — It was windy outside, but there was a torrential downpour inside the Ashe County gym on Jan. 20, as the Huskies’ women’s basketball team faced Watauga. Nope, there were no leaks in the ceiling. It was raining 3-point shots at the hands of the visiting Pioneers.

Bonus photos at bottom of article

The Pioneers leveraged a whopping nine made baskets from behind the 3-point arc in the opening half, including six of them in the second quarter, on their way to a dominant, 57-45 win over the host Huskies.

After struggling to a slim, 9-8 advantage in the first period, Watauga exploded for 29 points in the second quarter and took a 38-16 lead into the locker room at the break. The scoring was widespread, up and down the roster. Just about any Pioneer willing to take a shot was making a basket in the first half, led by Charlotte Torgerson (9 points in the half), Kate Sears (9), Brooke Scheffler (7), Laurel Kiker (6), and Kaitlyn Darner (5).

The Pioneers cooled off in the second half, only adding 19 more points while Ashe County closed the deficit with 29 points over the same time period, but the Huskies’ rally was simply too little, too late.

Ashe County’s second half production was led by Lexie Dawson and Abigail Jones, each with 9 points scored after halftime, while Paige Overcash contributed another 7 points.

Watauga head coach Laura Barry acknowledged after the game that it was a special night for her team, on both ends of the court.

“Ashe County started out making some good shots around the rim and then went cold. I credit our continual contesting as well as our rebounding each first missed shot very well. So we played really good defense and then, on the other end, we shot the crap out of the ball. We looked good in transition, as well as in half court. We did well in the first quarter but caught fire in the second,” said Barry.

Barry noted that the second half was a much closer contest and more in line with how the teams played in the late December, High Country Holiday Classic championship game.

“What you saw in the first half was a really good shooting performance that let us pull away. At halftime, we talked in the locker room about the need to win the third quarter, knowing who Ashe County is and what they are capable of. I thought they did a really good job picking their lanes and selecting their shots in the second half. They really closed the big gap,” said Barry.

With the win, the Pioneers are 14-5 overall on the season, 4-1 in Northwestern Conference play. Ashe County is 12-5 overall, 3-2 in conference. Watauga and Hibriten are tied atop the conference standings, both at 4-1, with Ashe County tied with Alexander Central for third place. Hibriten’s only loss came at the hands of Alexander Central.  And Watauga’s only conference loss was to Hibriten, a 48-45 decision on Jan. 12.

The Pioneers start the second round of conference games next, including a matchup at home against South Caldwell on Jan. 27, then another home came on Jan. 31 vs. Alexander Central before a rematch tilt with Hibriten in Lenoir on Feb. 3.

SCORING SUMMARY

• WAT Kate Sears (17)
• WAT Charlotte Torgerson (14)
• ASH Paige Overcash (13)
• ASH Abigail Jones (13)
• WAT Brooke Scheffler (9)
• ASH Lexie Dawson (9)
• WAT Laurel Kiker (8)
• ASH Abby Eller (6)
• WAT Kaitlyn Darner (5)
• WAT Julie Matheson (4)
• ASH Morgan Phipps (3)
• ASH Ally Greer (1)

BONUS PHOTOS

By David Rogers. WILKSBORO, N.C. — For a high school swimming dual meet, it doesn’t get much better than Watauga’s 68-7 women’s team win and the men’s 57-7 win over Alexander Central, especially with some of the Pioneers competing in other than their normal events or distances. The Wilkes YMCA hosted the event.

“We had a strong meet,” Pioneer head coach David Gragg acknowledged afterwards. “I used it as an opportunity for some swimmers to compete in ‘off’ events, which gave them a chance to swim something different than their normal routine.  For others, it gave them a last chance to improve time before next week’s scheduled conference meet or to swim on a relay for the last time of the season.  I appreciate Alexander Central for allowing it to just be us at the meet.  A tri-meet would have restricted our flexibility.”

Gragg seemed confident in his team’s prospects for the Northwestern Conference meet.

“We look forward to the conference meet next week,” said Gragg. “I have not looked at the season as us being defending champions, with teams chasing us.  Rather, it has been more about challenging ourselves and performing better than last year.  We will find out Wednesday how that goes.”

WATAUGA’S TOP PERFORMERS

Women’s 200 Medley Relay (4 entries)

• 1st – Watauga A, comprised of Lola Herring, Maggie Cheves, Lauren Patterson, Athena Elliott
• 2nd – Watauga B, comprised of Annabelle Stewart, MK Riddle, Macie Kent, Georgia Parker

Men’s 200 Medley Relay (3 entries)

• 1st – Watauga A, comprised of Anson Ross, Ryan Wood, Vaughn Ladd, Michael Makdad

Women’s 200 Freestyle (9 entries)

• 2nd – Maddy Elmore
• 3rd – Veronica Ryan
• 4th – Grace Lesesne

Men’s 200 Freestyle (5 entries)

• 1st – Summit Allan

Women’s 200 Individual Medley (3 entries)

• 1st – Annabelle Stewart
• 2nd – MK Riddle
• 3rd – Iyla Freed

Men’s 200 Individual Medley (1 entry)

• 1st – Michael Makdad

Women’s 50 Freestyle (28 entries)

• 1st – Lauren Patterson
• 2nd – Athena Elliott
• 3rd – Virginia St. Clair
• 4th – Lola Herring
• 5th – Georgia Parker
• 6th – Elise Rasco
• 7th – Austin Dyer
• 8th – Abbi Shuman

Men’s 50 Freestyle (17 entries)

• 1st – Vaughn Ladd
• 2nd – Anson Ross
• 3rd – Wes Coatney
• 4th – Ben Parker
• 6th – Drew Jasper
• 7th – Nick Lyons
• 8th – Sam Rex
• 9th – Thomas Moss

Women’s 100 Butterfly (1 entry)

• 1st – Elise Rasco

Men’s 100 Butterfly (3 entries)

• 1st – Vaughn Ladd
• 2nd – Anson Ross

Women’s 100 Freestyle (19 entries)

• 1st – Maggie Cheves
• 2nd – Virginia St. Clair
• 3rd – Athena Elliott
• 4th – Austin Dyer
• 5th – Cadence Smith
• 6th – Abbi Shuman

Men’s 100 Freestyle (14 entries)

• 1st – Ryan Wood
• 2nd – Paul Gamiel
• 3rd – Ben Parker
• 4th – Nick Lyons
• 5th – Trathan Gragg
• 6th – Drew Jasper
• 7th – Sam Rex
• 8 – Thomas Moss
• 9 – Silas Powell

Women’s 500 Freestyle (4 entries)

• 1st – Abi Pitts
• 2nd – Veronica Ryan
• 3rd – Annie Willis

Women’s 200 Freestyle Relay (8 entries)

• 1st – Watauga A, comprised of Lauren Patterson, Athena Elliott, Lola Herring, Virginia St. Clair
• 2nd – Watauga B, comprised of Georgia Parker, Annabelle Stewart, Macie Kent, Elise Rasco
• 4th – Austin Dyer, MK Riddle, Abbi Shuman, Cadence Smith

Men’s 200 Freestyle Relay (6 entries)

• 1st – Watauga A, comprised of Vaughn Ladd, Anson Ross, Ryan Wood, Michael Makdad
• 2nd – Watauga C, comprised of Nick Lyons, Trathan Gragg, Paul Gamiel, Ben Parker

Women’s 100 Backstroke (4 entries)

• 1st – Maggie Cheves
• 2nd – Macie Kent
• 3rd – Cadence Smith

Men’s 100 Backstroke (3 entries)

• 1st – Ryan Wood
• 2nd – Michael Makdad
• 3rd – Wes Coatney

Women’s 100 Breaststroke (4 entries)

• 1st – Lauren Patterson
• 2nd – MK Riddle

Men’s 100 Breaststroke (5 entries)

• 1st – Paul Gamiel
• 2nd – Summit Allan
• 3rd – Trathan Gragg

Women’s 400 Freestyle Relay (5 entries)

• 1st – Watauga A, comprised of Elise Rasco, Lola Herring, Maggie Cheves, Virginia St. Clair
• 2nd – Watauga B, comprised of Veronica Ryan, Abi Pitts, Cadence Smith, Annabelle Stewart

Men’s 400 Freestyle Relay (3 entries)

• 1st – Watauga A, comprised of Sam Rex, Drew Jasper, Ben Parker, Wes Coatney

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Maybe it wasn’t historic, but it was big. Watauga men’s basketball surprised Northwestern Conference power and season leader coming into the game, Freedom, 98-80, on Jan. 17 in Lentz Eggers Gym.

Behind Grant Morrison’s 13 points in just the first quarter, Watauga jumped out to a 25-16 lead at the end of the first stanza, then kept the proverbial pedal to the metal in finishing off the Patriots. The visitors from Morganton posted a strong third quarter in trying to rally back, but Watauga survived that, and then some.

Morrison finished the game with a team-high 27 points, one of six Pioneers scoring in double figures in the high flying contest. Wyatt Keller matched Morrison’s four 3-pointers, finishing with 16 points, while Wyatt Kohout added a pair of long distance shots from beyond the arc, adding 13 points to the Watauga total. Jackson Pryor and Maddox Greene offered 12 each, while Josiah Railey and freshman Cade Keller contributed 11 and 7, respectively.

Greene played a key role in the fourth quarter as the Patriots were looking to foul and get the ball back on any missed free throws by the Pioneers. Time and again, Watauga’s players got the ball into Greene’s hands where he waited to be fouled, then took advantage by going a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe.

Freedom’s Amore Connelly tallied a game-high 31 points and teammate Philly Harris poured in 21 to lead the visiting Patriots.

It had been seven years since the Pioneers defeated the Patriots, 53-48, Feb. 11, 2016, at Lentz Eggers Gym. A month earlier, on Jan. 5, Freedom had defended its home court with a narrow, 79-76 win. The Watauga roster in the 2015-16 season was comprised of Caleb Bryson, Aaron Dobbins, Michael Ebaugh, Jeremy Ringler, Zach Valet, Bryant Greene, Jerron Mills, Corey West, Alex Marinakis, Jonathan McClannon, Dillon Carmichael, Kevin Kapral and Holden Russell, under the direction of head coach Rob Sanders.

Emerging from the locker room after the game to meet with reporters, a smiling current head coach, Bryson Payne, had just been “showered” by his players with the iconic Gatorade bucket and not a care in the world about the extra dry cleaning bill.

“It is something that we have been talking about all year,” said Payne in opening his remarks, “that preparation is always going to help you or catch up to you. There have been some times when we haven’t been prepared like we felt we needed to be and it caught up to us. A couple of those losses came in games we think we should have won but we didn’t play our best. Hopefully, we learned some lessons from it.”

Preparation may well have been the key to the Pioneers’ win over Freedom on Jan. 17.

“We had a good practice yesterday and a good practice on Friday with last week’s games moved up to Thursday. We were able to come out tonight and put a full game together,” said Payne.

Last week’s win over Hibriten, in similar fashion, seemed to help.

“Our guys, for the most part, are pretty confident in themselves and their abilities,” said Payne. “What the Hibriten game really did was help us get past the Alexander Central game where we felt like we didn’t play as well as we could have and they played pretty well that night. So it was kind of a double negative on us. The win over Hibriten helped us build some of that confidence back and that carried over to tonight.”

Payne shared that the team’s preparations were “nothing special.”

“We just worked on handling pressure, execution, boxing out.  Freedom’s ‘MO’ is that they want to put up a lot of points, run in transition and play a fast-paced game. So we wanted to try and slow them down, but we like to play fast, too. We didn’t necessarily slow them down, but defensively we made them shoot some tougher shots. We did well rebounding, and were successful in converting those rebounds into points at the other end… Our guys can compete with anybody as long as they come out and do the things we want to do.”

Next up for the Pioneers is an away game on Jan. 20 at Ashe County. The Huskies are 6-11 overall and 0-4 in Northwestern Conference play to date, with losses to league opponents South Caldwell, Freedom, Hibriten and Alexander Central.

SCORING SUMMARY

• Amore Connelly (31)
• WAT Grant Morrison (27)
• FRE Philly Harris (21)
• WAT Wyatt Keller (16)
• WAT Wyatt Kohout (13)
• WAT Maddox Greene (12)
• WAT Jackson Pryor (12)
• WAT Josiah Railey (11)
• FRE Kayden Lytle (10)
• WAT Cade Keller (7)
• FRE Dyson Dellinger (7)
• FRE Gavin McNaughton (4)
• FRE Braxton King (4)
• FRE Keegan Clark (3)

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — If basketball games were decided only by a team’s dexterity at the free throw line, Freedom’s 6-for-6 shooting from the charity stripe won the night. But…

Watauga’s women’s basketball team ran over the visiting Patriots, 54-24, in front of a loud and enthusiastic crowd of supporters for both sides cramming Lentz Eggers Gym on Jan. 17.

Bonus photos at bottom of article

The Pioneers’ disruptive defensive effort offered Freedom relative few shooting opportunities and those the Patriots got off were mostly off the mark. Meanwhile, Watauga’s balanced scoring effort saw the Pioneers jump out to a 16-2 lead by the end of just the first quarter, and the lopsided results got even more lopsided after that.

This has been a year when different Pioneer players stepped up and made their mark on individual games to complement the consistent leadership — call it field generalship, in military terms — of sophomore point guard Kate Sears, who is averaging 20.6 points per game and, true to form, scored 21 against Freedom.

But as the Pioneers whipped the ball around the court, looking for the open shot opportunity, the “step up” sparks in this contest came from Laurel Kiker and Julie Matheson, right from the beginning.

Matheson hit from beyond the arc in the first quarter. It was a dagger to the heart of Freedom’s poise.

Kiker is the proverbial Energizer bunny who is known to make things happen on defense, shifting quickly from one side of the court to the other to pressure an opponent’s possession. She steals. She blocks. She flies around the court to disrupt.

Against Freedom, Kiker was even more. She drove the lane to the basket. She drove the lane or baseline before kicking the ball out to an open teammate. She shot and hit from beyond the 3-point arc. In addition to her defensive presence, Kiker was an offensive facilitator against the Patriots, scoring 11 points of her own and collecting an untold number of assists.

“Freedom is a well-coached team,” said Watauga head coach. “Tonight, our skill work paid off. We put the right pieces together to allow our players to play to their strengths. I think our defense caught them a little bit off guard. As a coach, I know you can prepare for something but it isn’t the same when you get out there and are actually playing against it. They struggled against our 1-3-1 zone, which was apparent by their having only scored 8 points by halftime. We got some runouts and established momentum.”

Barry was quick to acknowledge that even the best programs have their ups and downs from year to year.

“In the time I have been here, this rivalry has more often than not gone in Freedom ‘s favor,” said Barry.

Barry was candid in assessing the resurgence of Kiker.

“Against Myers Park (Nov. 26), that was probably Kiker’s best game up to this point. She was fantastic down in Charlotte over Thanksgiving. But today… defensive intensity was there, layups down the lane, hit a three… She is known for her scoring, but her defense led to some scoring opportunities for herself as well as for others, too,” said Barry. “Kiker, Caroline (Farthing), Brooke Scheffler are all tremendous defenders. It is frustrating for an opposing team when it looks like the shot opportunity is there when all of a sudden it isn’t because of their defensive play.”

Now 13-5 overall, 3-1 in Northwestern Conference play, will now take its game on the road for a Jan. 20 matchup at Ashe County, a familiar opponent since the Pioneers faced the Huskies in the recent High Country Holiday Classic championship game. Although the Pioneers came away from that encounter in Lentz Eggers Gym with a 61-50 win, Ashe County brings a similar record into the rematch, 12-4 overall and 3-1 against Northwestern Conference opponents. They have conference wins against Alexander Central, Freedom, and South Caldwell, losing only a 1-point decision to Hibriten, 66-65, on Jan. 10 in West Jefferson.

SCORING SUMMARY

• WAT Kate Sears (21)
• WAT Laurel Kiker (11)
• WAT Julie Matheson (6)
• WAT Brooke Scheffler (6)
• FRE Sydnie Demiter (6)
• FRE Ava Whitaker (6)
• WAT Charlotte Torgerson (5)
• FRE Ava Whisnant (4)
• FRE Peyton Caldwell (4)
• WAT Gracie Lawrence (3)
• WAT Kaitlyn Darner (2)
• FRE Statlee McGee (2)
• FRE Kaitlyn Hagman (2)

BONUS PHOTOS by David Rogers

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — “Blackout Night” at Lentz Eggers Gym brought arguably the best performance of the still young 2022-23 season for Watauga’s men’s basketball team. It started out promising enough when Hibriten was charged with a technical foul before the game even started — and the Pioneers kept pushing to a resounding, 70-63 finish.

BONUS PHOTOS at bottom of article

With an obvious size advantage, the Pioneers worked their up-tempo attack in transition to get the ball inside, to forwards Jackson Pryor and Grant Morrison and take advantage of any mismatches. As a result, Morrison tallied a team-high 16 points on the night, Pryor, 15. And as if to put exclamation points on their inside play, both of the big men had resounding dunks to finish off fourth quarter fast breaks.

If there was a surprise performance on the evening, it was arguably the “breakout” play by sophomore guard Josiah Railey, who attacked the basket for 13 points, including one 3-pointer. Time and again, Railey drove the lane or attacked down the baseline at the basket, sometimes kicking the ball out to an open teammate, sometimes taking the shot himself, and often times getting a free pass to the charity stripe for a foul shot.

Though slightly undersized in comparison with the Pioneers, the Hibriten players were very athletic and, for their size, posted a good rebounding effort. The Panthers’ biggest player, forward Jay Willis nearly singlehandedly kept the game close at the half by scoring 13 of his game-high 18 points in the second quarter.

“We watched a lot of film on them and knew we would have a size advantage,” acknowledged Watauga forward Grant Morrison after the game. “Our coaches had a good game plan for us and we executed well.”

Pioneer head coach Bryson Payne suggested afterwards that the team’s performance against Hibriten validates the up-tempo style he and his staff are promoting.

“The inside play by Pryor and Morrison was really made possible by what we did in transition,” said Pryor. “We pushed the ball up court but tonight was cleaner, with fewer turnovers… After Alexander Central, we just wanted to get better.”

The Pioneers turn another page on the 2022-23 season when they face Freedom in Lentz Eggers Gym on Jan. 17. The Patriots are 13-3 overall and sport an undefeated, 3-0 Northwestern Conference record. Their wins so far have come at the expense of Ashe County, Hibriten and South Caldwell.

SCORING SUMMARY

• HIB Jay Willis (18)
• WAT Grant Morrison (16)
• WAT Jackson Pryor (15)
• HIB Nylan Battle (14)
• WAT Josiah Railey (13)
• HIB Jay Maxwell (12)
• WAT Maddox Greene (10)
• WAT Wyatt Kohout (10)
• HIB Kalen Bowers (8)
• HIB Thomas Vaught (6)
• HIB Bryce Horton (5)
• WAT Wyatt Keller (2)
• WAT Davis Hunt (2)
• WAT Cole Horine (2)

BONUS PHOTOS (all photographic images by David Rogers)

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — It was nasty outside Lentz Eggers Gym on Jan. 12. Cold and wet. Inside, the Watauga women’s basketball team was simply cold — shooting, that is.

Watauga lost a close one, 48-45, to a very skillful and disciplined Hibriten team that shot a whopping seven 3-pointers in the first half alone to take 29-21 lead into intermission. After the halftime break, the Pioneers abandoned a zone defense they employed in the first two periods, throwing a decidedly more effective man-to-man defensive scheme at the Panthers and it paid off. Along with a more disruptive defense, Watauga shot marginally better and “won” the third quarter, 15-8. They even used that momentum early in the final period to tie game, but Hibriten’s Zoey Walker used bookend free throws around a long distance gem to lead her team in putting the game away.

After the game, Watauga head coach Laura Barry acknowledged that it was an off night shooting for her Pioneers, for the most part and said that the “rain of threes” in the first half were on her for sticking with a zone scheme that protected the paint, but left three Panther guards with open looks from outside the arc. Of note: Hibriten had only one 3-point shot made in the second half after making 7 in the first half.

Hibriten’s Emma Porch shot a game-high 17 points on the night, with key offensive production from Walker (15 points) and Katie Story (12).

Watauga’s Kate Sears accounted for a team-high 16 points while shooting guard Charlotte Torgerson was good for 13 points.

If there was true bright spot in Watauga’s performance against Hibriten, it was the play of defensive ace Laurel Kiker, who delivered 7 points on the offensive end of the court.

“Laurel is known for her defensive abilities,” said Barry. “When you can get 7-8 points out of her on offense, she is having a very good night.”

With the loss, Watauga drops to 2-1 in Northwestern Conference play, 12-5 overall. The Pioneers will look to rebound on Jan. 17, at home against Freedom. In winning, the Panthers improve to 16-1 overall and 3-0 in Northwestern Conference action. Hibriten will look to extend their court dominance on Jan. 17, at home against Alexander Central.

SELECTED SCORING

• HIB Emma Porch (17)
• WAT Kate Sears (16)
• HIB Zoey Walker (15)
• WAT Charlotte Torgerson (13)
• HIB Katie Story (12)
• WAT Laurel Kiker (7)
• WAT Caroline Farthing (4)
• WAT Brooke Scheffler (3)
• HIB Alley Oliver (3)
• WAT Kaitlyn Darner (2)
• HIB Sydney White (1)

 

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — In the crazy world of high school athletics, a single “happening” at the Watauga Community Recreation Center generated a dozen dual meet scores across 24 individual and relay races on Jan. 12. The four-team event hosted by Watauga High School was dominated by the Pioneers in both the men’s and women’s divisions.

Swimmers from University Christian (Hickory), as well as familiar Northwestern Conference foes Hibriten and Freedom competed. Once again, Watauga’s roster depth, even though comprised of many freshmen and sophomores, proved a valuable asset in determining the team scores, with several impressive individual performances.

TEAM SCORES – MEN

• Watauga 91, University Christian 68
• Watauga 105, Freedom 57
• Watauga 126, Hibriten 25
• University Christian 78, Freedom 71
• University Christian 96, Hibriten 30
• Freedom 92, Hibriten 35

TEAM SCORES – WOMEN

• Watauga 107, Hibriten 55
• Watauga 117, University Christian 40
• Watauga 129, Freedom 40
• Hibriten 93, University Christian 60
• Hibriten 102, Freedom 53
• University Christian 85, Freedom 65

SELECTED INDIVIDUAL WATAUGA PERFORMANCES

Women’s 200 Yard Medley Relay (7 entries)

• 1st – Watauga A, team of Maggie Cheves, Lauren Patterson, Elise Rasco, and Athena Elliott
• 2nd – Watauga B, team of Lola Herring, MK Riddle, Macie Kent, Georgia Parker

Men’s 200 Yard Medley Relay (6 entries)

• 2nd – Watauga A. team of Vaughn Ladd, Ryan Wood, Michael Makdad, Wes Coatney

Women’s 200 Yard Freestyle (12 entries)

• 3rd – Virginia St. Clair
• 4th – Elise Rasco
• 6th – Cadence Smith
• Other Watauga competitors included Maddy Elmore and Katu Nyzoki

Men’s 200 Yard Freestyle (8 entries)

• 4th – Drew Jasper
• Other Watauga competitors included Trathan Gragg, Arden Jackson, and Silas Powell

Women’s 200 Yard Individual Medley (8 entries)

• 1st – Lauren Patterson
• Other Watauga competitors included Iyla Freed, Abi Pitts

Men’s 200 Yard Individual Medley (4 entries)

• 2nd – Wes Coatney
• 3rd – Sam Rex

Women’s 50 Yard Freestyle (41 entries)

• 1st – Athena Elliott
• 2nd – Maggie Cheves
• 4th – Macie Kent
• 5th – Georgia Parker
• 7th – Annabelle Stewart
• 9th – Abbi Shuman
• Other Watauga competitors included Austin Dyer, Ella Anderson, Coco Mente, Sarah Green, Grace Lesesne, Autumn Gardner, Claudia Hooker, Savannah Auton, Marley Woodard, Emmy Martinez, Bridget Flaherty, Ava Curtis, Emma Lewis, Annie Willis, and Adela Garmendia

Men’s 50 Yard Freestyle (29 entries)

• 3rd – Vaughn Ladd
• 5th – Levi Temple
• 7th – Ben Parker
• Other Watauga competitors included Thomas Moss, Haines Heistand, Nick Lyons, Tasman Orkiszewski, Kole Denny, and Ezekiel Walker

Women’s 100 Yard Butterfly (6 entries)

• 2nd – Athena Elliott
• 3rd – Elise Rasco

Men’s 100 Yard Butterfly (7 entries)

• 3rd – Vaughn Ladd
• Other Watauga competitors included Michael Makdad, Sam Rex

Women’s 100 Yard Freestyle (23 entries)

• 1st – Virginia St. Clair
• 2nd – Lola Herring
• 4th – Austin Dyer
• 5th – MK Riddle
• 6th – Georgia Parker
• 8th – Abbi Shuman
• 9th – Abi Pitts
• Other Watauga competitors included Ella Anderson, Coco Mente, and Katu Nzyoki

Men’s 100 Yard Freestyle (24 entries)

• 1st – Ryan Wood
• 4th – Ben Parker
• 5th – Summit Allan
• 6th – Drew Jasper
• 7th – Paul Gamiel
• 10th – Thomas Moss
• Other Watauga competitors included Silas Powell, Haines Heistand, Kole Denny, and Ezekiel Walker

Women’s 500 Yard Freestyle (6 entries)

• 1st – Annabelle Stewart
• 2nd – Iyla Freed
• 3rd – Maddy Elmore

Men’s 500 Yard Freestyle (5 entries)

• 1st – Michael Makdad
• 2nd – Wes Coatney

Women’s 200 Yard Freestyle Relay (11 entries)

• 2nd – Watauga A, team of Georgia Parker, Austin Dyer, Annabelle Stewart, Virginia St. Clair
• 3rd – Watauga B, team of Iyla Freed, Cadence Smith, Abi Pitts, Abbi Shuman
• 6th – Watauga F, team of Coco Mentes, Grace Lesesne, Maddy Elmore, Ella Anderson
• 7th – Watauga C, team of Sarah Green, Autumn Gardner, Savannah Auton, Claudia Hooker
• 8th – Watauga D, team of Bridget Flaherty, Emma Lewis, Annie Willis, Ava Curtis
• 9th – Watauga E, team of Adela Garmendia, Emmy Martinez, Marley Woolard, Katu Nyzoki

Men’s 200 Yard Freestyle Relay (10 entries)

• 3rd – Watauga B, team of Nick Lyons, Sam Rex, Drew Jasper, Summit Allan
• 5th – Watauga C, team of Trathan Gragg, Thomas Moss, Haines Heistand, Arden Jackson
• 7th – Watauga D, team of Silas Powell, Ezekiel Walker, Kole Denny, Tasman Orkiszewski
• DQ – Watauga A, team of Levi Temple, Paul Gamiel, Ben Parker, Vaughn Ladd

Women’s 100 Yard Backstroke (10 entries)

• 1st – Maggie Cheves
• 2nd – Lola Herring
• 5th – Cadence Smith
• 7th – Annie Willis

Men’s 100 Yard Backstroke (7 entries)

• 1st – Ryan Wood
• 3rd – Arden Jackson
• 4th – Nick Lyons

Women’s 100 Yard Breaststroke (8 entries)

• 1st – MK Riddle
• 5th – Grace Lesesne

Men’s 100 Yard Breaststroke (8 entries)

• 2nd – Summit Allan
• 4th – Paul Gamiel
• 7th – Trathan Gragg

Women’s 400 Yard Freestyle Relay (7 entries)

• 1st – Watauga B, team of Elise Raso, Annabelle Stewart, Ilya Freed, Athena Elliott
• DQ – Watauga A, team of Maggie Cheves, Lola Herring, Cadence Smith, Virginia St. Clair

Men’s 400 Yard Freestyle Relay (6 entries)

• 2nd – Watauga A, team of Wes Coatney, Ben Parker, Michael Makdad, Ryan Wood
• 5th – Watauga B, team of Drew Jasper, Nick Lyons, Trathan Gragg, Paul Gamiel

By David Rogers. TAYLORSVILLE, N.C. — Shrugging off Alexander Central’s 12-1 record coming into the game on Jan. 10, as well as the loud and enthusiastic, Cougar-friendly arena, Watauga polished off the distaff Cougars, 38-25.

The Watauga athletes kept their poise in what evolved as a highly physical game. As one observer standing courtside said, “The refs are letting the girls play.” Much of the contest was a bump and grind affair with plenty of contact underneath the baskets and several “scrums” as players from both sides dove for loose balls.

Led by sophomore point guard Kate Sears’ 18 points and 8 rebounds, as well as senior forward Brooke Scheffler’s 8 points, 5 rebounds, 1 blocked shot and a steal, Watauga took control by the end of the first quarter and kept up the attack to the end.

Watauga poured in 6 shots from long range during the course of the evening, including a pair of 3-pointers each by senior forward Caroline Farthing  and Sears. The other treys were added by Kaitlyn Darner and Charlotte Torgerson. Those six shots from beyond the arc accounted for 18 of the Pioneers’ points, while another 10 points were made by Sears at the charity stripe as she drew defenders’ attention time and again by driving the lane.

At times, Alexander Central had their way inside, with forward Kirstyn Herman notching a double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds to go with a team-high 10 points. Workaholic guard Sydney Hayes only add 3 points, offensively, but contributed six rebounds — all on the defensive end — and two blocked shots to bolster the Cougars’ defensive efforts.

With the win, Watauga maintains its undefeated Northwestern Conference record and a tie with Hibriten atop the early season standings with 2-0 records. The Pioneers are now 12-4 overall while the Panthers are 15-1 after a narrow, 66-65 win at Ashe County (on Jan. 10). Watauga and Hibriten will try to settle things on Thursday, Jan. 12, when the Panthers travel to Boone to take on Watauga.

With the loss, Alexander Central falls to 12-2 overall and 0-2 in NWC play.

SELECTED INDIVIDUAL STATS

• WAT Kate Sears – 18 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists
• WAT Brooke Scheffler – 8 points, 5 rebounds, 1 blocked shot, 1 steal
• WAT Caroline Farthing – 6 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal
• WAT Charlotte Torgerson – 3 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
• WAT Kaitlyn Darner – 3 points, 6 rebounds
• AC Kirstyn Herman – 10 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists
• AC Sydney Hayes – 3 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocked shots
• AC Hallie Jarrett – 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals

SELECTED TEAM STATS

• Field Goal %: WAT 29.4% (10-34), AC 25.0% (11-44)
• 3-Point %: WAT 46.2% (6-13), AC 15.8% (3-19)
• Points from Inside the Paint: WAT 6, AC 14
• Points off Turnovers: WAT 13, AC 2
• Second Chance Points: WAT 5, AC 4
• Bench Points: WAT 3, AC 2

By David Rogers. TAYLORSVILLE, N.C. — A high disciplined and well-skilled Alexander Central men’s basketball team took advantage of home and a raucous, Cougar-friendly crowd on Jan. 10, running by Watauga, 66-47, and tightening their grip on Northwestern Conference leadership.

Now 10-4 overall, 2-0 in Northwestern Conference play, the Cougars went on a 14-3 run early in the first quarter and never looked back. They led 17-6 at the end of the first period, a comfortable 37-22 at intermission and 55-37 at the end of the third quarter.

Four Cougars scored in double figures, led by guard Avery Cook’s game-high 23 points that included 3-for-3 shooting from behind the 3-point arc. Starting forwards Carter Fortner and Chad Lasher added 11 and 10 points, respectively, while Grayson Presnell contributed 10 points of his own.

Alexander Central was especially effective in moving the ball around and finding an open man with a good look at the basket, whether shooting from the perimeter or driving the lane. The ball movement to scoring opportunity was reflected in the team being credited with 19 assists.

Watauga also moved the ball well, but its few open looks too often fell too short, too long, or too wide of the target. Where the Cougars shot 66.7 percent from the field, the Pioneers managed to make only 29.4 percent from the field.

Wyatt Keller poured in a team-high 17 points on the night. His total included five successful 3-point attempts. The only other Pioneer in double figures was forward Jackson Pryor, who was credited with 13 points.

Thanks largely to Pryor’s seven offensive rebounds, the Pioneers held an 18-3 advantage over Alexander Central in second chance points, but the Cougars still seemed to dominate inside play, reflected by a 32-10 advantage in points scored from inside the paint.

 

One team statistic seemed out of whack and may explain some of the performance disparity. Watauga was whistled for 19 personal fouls on the night, Alexander Central only 8 times.

With the loss, Watauga falls to 7-8 overall, 1-1 in Northwestern Conference play. The Pioneers will try to get back on track Thursday, Jan. 12, in a home matchup with Hibriten.

Alexander Central’s next two contests are both on the road, at South Caldwell on Jan. 12 and at Hibriten on Jan. 17. The Cougars are currently tied with Freedom atop the Northwestern Conference standings, both teams undefeated at 2-0.

SELECTED KEY STATS

• AC Avery Cook – 23 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocked shots
• AC Chad Lasher – 10 points, 6 rebounds,
• AC Carter Fortner – 11 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
• AC Grayson Presnell – 10 points, 7 assists
• WAT Wyatt Keller – 17 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal
• WAT Jackson Pryor – 13 points, 7 rebounds
• WAT Josiah Railey – 3 points, 4 assists, 2 steals

SELECTED TEAM STATS

• Field Goal %: WAT 29.4% (15-51), AC 66.7% (24-36)
• 3-Point %: WAT 38.5% (10-26), AC 60.0% (6-10)
• Points Inside the Paint: WAT 10, AC 32
• Points Off Turnovers: WAT 7, AC 9
• Second Chance Points: WAT 18, AC 3
• Fast Break Points: WAT 0, AC 4
• Bench Points: WAT 6, AC 12

By David Rogers. HUDSON, N.C. — An early commanding lead in basketball means little when your opponent battles back to make a game of it. That’s why they play the whole game — and on Jan. 6, Watauga somehow managed to survive a scrappy, rallying performance by host South Caldwell to win, 51-44. It was both teams’ Northwestern Conference season opener, fittingly played with high energy in the raucous and electric Spartan gym.

The Pioneers seemed to take control early with a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. But Watauga lost the inside presence of junior forward Jackson Pryor to foul trouble early in the second period and that proved at least one of the factors in the Spartans’ scrambling back to trail by only one at intermission (23-22) and by just three at the end of the third quarter (36-33).

The Pioneers shrugged off 17 turnovers and a seeming inability to finish at the rim, with layups and put-backs rolling off the backboard and around the hoop, rebound after rebound. But with disruptive defense of their own and bursts of timely offensive production, Watauga was able to hold off and survive the Spartan rallies.

“Obviously, there are some things we can improve upon,” said Watauga head coach Bryson Payne after talking with the team following the game. “I like the way we finished the game tonight. We played hard. We struggled to finish around the rim at times but, ultimately, we did enough to win. That’s our big thing: find a way to win. I was proud of the way our guys took care of the basketball at the end and get enough free throws to pull away.”

Of the deficiency in “finishing at the rim” that could have meant an even greater margin of victory, Payne said, “We work on that every day, but whether the ball goes in or doesn’t go in, we want a ‘next play’ mentality.”

In other words, while in the moment, don’t fret about mistakes. Move on to the next play and the next opportunity.

Of the 17 turnovers, Payne observed, “I have to credit South Caldwell head coach Danny Anderson for some of that. I have talked to other coaches and from what we saw tonight, he ran a completely new defense against us. He is really good at preparing his guys so I think early on we were kind of caught off guard. Later on, we got it figured out and got a little bit more organized. Also, this was a loud environment, with a lot of people here. It was the first conference game so the energy was high.

“Our guys want to score,” Payne added. “We might have been in a little bit of a hurry, but we want to push the ball. Some of those turnovers we are prepared to (absorb) because we want to push the tempo. With that, you are going to lose the ball sometimes.”

“It was a good win. Our defense really stepped up,” said Pryor after the game.

“This was exciting,” said a smiling Cole Horine afterwards. “We played four quarters tonight and played together as a team, with good defense. But we were pretty even in that we didn’t go up and down, and up and down, like we do sometimes. We had a really good finish.”

Of the turnovers, Horine said matter-of-factly, “We have to take care of the ball better. Sometimes I think we get in a bit of a rush. Overall, we are getting better every day.”

Watauga’s next game encounter is in Taylorsville on Jan. 10, at Alexander Central.

“They are very well coached,” said Payne of the upcoming game. “They have some size. They are likely to play a zone defense the whole time so we are going to have to be able to hit some shots. They like to pack the paint so we are going to have to try and finish in traffic. They will be very disciplined, running a lot of sets and screens, so we will have to talk through those. Our goal, defensively, is to make everything as difficult for our opponents as possible and rebound.”

Tipoff at Alexander Central is tentatively scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Cougar gym, to immediately follow the women’s varsity game.

SCORING SUMMARY

• WAT Wyatt Keller (18)
• WAT Grant Morrison (14)
• SCD Tyler Cline (13)
• SCD Tyler Eggers (12)
• SCD Caleb Greene (10)
• WAT Maddox Greene (8)
• WAT Wyatt Kohout (8)
• WAT Jackson Pryor (3)
• SCD Connor Setzer (3)
• SCD Carter Anderson (3)
• SCD Riley Heubaum (2)
• SCD Lawson Wilks (1)