By David Rogers. WEST JEFFERSON, N.C. — Shrugging off 14 turnovers that included eight opponent steals, the Watauga women’s basketball team waltzed to a dominant, 75-52 win over Alexander Central on Feb. 18, in the semifinals of the 3A/4A Northwestern Conference Basketball Championships, hosted in 2025 by the Ashe County Huskies athletic program.
With the win, the Pioneers advance to the championship final on Friday, Feb. 21, also in West Jefferson, with tipoff vs. the other semifinal winner, South Caldwell, at 6:30 p.m.
Watauga used a 13-4 opening run to gain separation from the Cougars and never looked back. As a team, the Pioneers were hot, hot, hot in burning the net on the offensive end — and disruptive on the defensive end of the court.
A quartet of Pioneers led the team to a 54.2 percent success rate from behind the 3-point arc. Starting guards Julie Matheson, Izzy Torgerson, Blair Haines and Kate Sears combined to knock down 13 treys, accounting for over half of the team’s total points on the night.
As impactful as the Pioneers’ aim from long distance might have been, this game was also won in the trenches. Led by Sears (14 rebounds), Chloe Wilson (6) and Shelby Thompson (5), Watauga nearly doubled up the Cougars in clearing the boards on both ends of the court, pulling down 40 errant shots vs. 24 rebounds by the Alexander Central hoopsters. Eleven offensive boards by the Pioneers led to a 10-4 advantage in second chance points and contributed to a 22-14 edge in points scored inside the paint.
“When we are shooting that well,” said Watauga head coach Bill Torgerson after the game, “it is hard to beat us.”
As Pioneer fans have come to expect, Sears recorded yet another triple double on the night, with 32 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists. For good measure, she added a blocked shot to her impressive stat line.
The Pioneers also got double-digit scoring from Matheson (18) and Torgerson (11).
The Feb. 21 championship game between No. 1 seeded Watauga and No. 2 seed South Caldwell sets up a potentially dynamic rematch. On Jan. 9 in Hudson, the Pioneers all but dismantled the Spartans in front of their home crowd, 74-55. But South Caldwell returned the favor on Jan. 31, taking a 93-91, double overtime win on a buzzer-beater 3-pointer off the hands of freshman guard Ava Anderson.
South Caldwell advanced to the final with a 64-54 win over Freedom in the second women’s semifinal on Feb. 18. Anderson again led the team with 18 points, but was just one of a Spartan quartet to reach double figures on the night. Fellow backcourt freshman Maggie Wilks poured in 15 points while sophomore Holland Weisner and senior Kristin Barber each added 11 points.
It would be an understatement to say that the upcoming women’s championship game could be the must-see ticket of the year in high school women’s basketball, at least in the High Country.
KEY PERFORMERS in WATAUGA VS. ALEXANDER CENTRAL
- WAT – Kate Sears: 32 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 blocked shot
- AC – Meredith Wike: 29 points, 3 rebounds, 1 blocked shot
- WAT – Julie Matheson: 18 points
- WAT – Izzy Torgerson: 11 points, 2 assists
- AC – Malayah Adams: 9 points, 1 blocked shot, 2 steals
- WAT – Blair Haines: 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 blocked shot, 1 steal
- WAT – Chloe Wilson: 6 rebounds, 4 points, 1 blocked shot
- AC – Addie Jack: 5 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals
- WAT – Kaitlyn Darner: 4 assists
