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.
