By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Visiting T.C. Roberson’s women’s basketball team could have been forgiven had they broken out umbrellas in Lentz Eggers Gym on Feb. 25. Early and often, it started raining Watauga “threes” in the first round of the NCHSAA 4A Basketball Playoffs. Behind a dozen 3-pointers from six different Pioneer players and disruptive defense, No. 3-seeded Watauga waltzed to a dominating, 74-37 win over the Rams.
With the victory, Watauga advances to the second round on Friday, Feb. 28, hosting No. 19 Hough (Cornelius, N.C.), which got past No. 14-seeded Weddington, 48-43.
Hough (20-7 overall, 10-4 in the 3A/4A Queen City Conference), placed third in a strong Charlotte area conference behind North Mecklenburg (24-3, 13-1) and Mallard Creek (25-3, 13-1).
By any measure, Watauga’s performance vs. T.C. Roberson was a rout from the get-go. With senior guard Kate Sears ripping the nets for 22 points in the first quarter alone, the Pioneers jumped out to a 32-11 lead after just the opening period. Sears, per usual, tallied a game-high 32 points (15 points from behind the arc) but did not play large chunks of the second half. By intermission, with the lead extended to 51-19, many among the packed crowd of onlookers started hoping for a 40-point lead so the “mercy rule” would be triggered.
They got their wish only a couple of minutes past halftime. With a running clock, Pioneer head coach Bill Torgerson started deploying a number of non-starters in different combinations with individual or duos of regular rotation players, including Sears. A total of nine Watauga athletes got on the scoreboard, including valuable minutes for elevated junior varsity athletes, Steph Mendez, Presli Wood and Charlie Mattox. Equally important, senior first-year basketball player and forward Chloe Wilson — who continues to steadily improve as she becomes more familiar with her role on the court and the team strategies — played extended minutes before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.
T.C. Roberson got reasonably good offensive production from freshman forward Ryleigh Owen (9 points) and senior guard Kylie Carrington (15), but little else from the rest of the Rams.
SCORING SUMMARY
- WAT – Kate Sears (32 points)
- WAT – Julie Matheson (17)
- WAT – Kaitlyn Darner (6)
- WAT – Steph Mendez (5)
- WAT – Blair Haines (5)
- WAT – Izzy Torgerson (3)
- WAT – Presli Wood (3)
- WAT – Charlie Mattox (2)
- WAT – Chloe Wilson (1)
- ROB – Kylie Carrington (15)
- ROB – Ryleigh Owen (9)
- ROB – Ellie Morgan (5)
- ROB – Skylar Gribben (4)
- ROB – Addison Tissot (3)
- ROB – Olivia DeMoss (1)
FIRST ROUND SCORES, NCHSAA 4A WEST BRACKET
BOLD – Seeding Upsets
- No. 1 McDowell 57, No. 32 Mount Tabor 30
- No. 16 Alexander Central 63, No. 17 Porter Ridge 56
- No. 8 South Mecklenburg 78, No. 25 Reagan 50
- No. 9 Davie 81, No. 24 Asheville 39
- No. 5 Marvin Ridge 58, No. 28 Southwest Guilford 46
- No. 12 Grimsley 55, No. 21 Ardrey Kell 41
- No. 13 Hickory 85, No. 20 Ragsdale 51
- No. 4 Mallard Creek 64, No. 29 Page 21
- No. 3 Watauga 74, No. 30 TC Roberson 37
- No. 19 Hough 48, No. 14 Weddington 43
- No. 6 Northern Guilford 48, No. 27 Rocky River 31
- No. 22 Charlotte Catholic 77, No. 11 South Caldwell 57
- No. 7 Butler 52, No. 26 Myers Park 39
- No. 10 North Mecklenburg 71, No. 23 Southeast Guilford 32
- No. 18 Northwest Guilford 41, East Forsyth 31
- No. 2 Lake Norman 85, No. 31 Cox Mill 40
