By David Rogers. WEST JEFFERSON, N.C. — Ashe County varsity women’s basketball team saved their best for last on Feb. 16 and earned a first place, Northwestern Conference tie with their victim, Watauga, in the process with a 62-59 win.
For the Pioneers, it was a “chilly” night shooting, very different than the 72-42 shellacking of the Huskies in the friendly confines of Lentz Eggers Gym just three weeks ago, on Jan. 26.
Watauga rallied from a 13 point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to tie the game and send it into overtime.
To say that the Pioneers’ latest performance was a misadventure against their High Country rivals on the Huskies’ home court is an understatement. And their troubles started at the outset. Only two Pioneers, Kate Sears and Kaitlyn Darner, found the bottom of the net in the first quarter and that was for only five points apiece. The team only scored seven points in the second quarter, improving to 11 in the third period before finally finding their mojo with 20 points in the fourth.
In that final stanza, Watauga rallied from a 13-point deficit to tie the game and send it into overtime, but in the 4-minutes of OT found themselves outscored by the Huskies, 14-11.
Abby Sheets’ seventh 3-pointer of the night, in overtime, was a dagger that put the Huskies in command.
While the Pioneers were struggling through the first three quarters of the game, the Huskies were celebrating their Senior Night and HOT, HOT, HOT, led by Abby Sheets. The 5-8 junior guard tied with Watauga’s Kate Sears for game-high honors in scoring 25 points, including a remarkable seven 3-pointers. Senior forward Paige Overcash tallied 15 points and was especially effective in the paint on both ends. Senior guard Lexie Dawson was also an offensive force in scoring 19 points on the night.
In overtime, Sheets’ 3-pointer was a dagger that put the Huskies in command and Dawson made good on 5-of-6 shots from the charity stripe as a desperate Watauga team was trying to get the ball back and make up the deficit.
Afterward, Watauga head coach Bill Torgerson gave credit where credit was due.
“I give lots of credit to the Ashe team,” said Torgerson. “It was senior night and they had a chance to get a share of the conference title and they did it. Obviously, Abby Sheets was on fire with her seven three pointers. She banked in a half courter and she hit several that were contested pretty well.”
In assessing his Pioneers, Torgerson was straightforward.
“Our kids played hard,” he said. “We had a subpar shooting night but we kept fighting even after being down 13 points after three periods and 10 points with just 4:30 to go. We’re going to be back in the gym on Saturday, working, and we’re excited to get to play in the conference tournament at home next week.”
