By David Rogers. BURNSVILLE, N.C. — A big, athletic Mountain Heritage team again proved too much for Watauga on Dec. 13. Less than a week after the Cougars overwhelmed the Pioneers at Lentz Eggers Gym, they did the same in the rematch on their own home court, 75-46.
Listed at 6 ft., 7 in., the Cougars’ Max Smoker can play either point guard or power forward and the versatile athlete burned the Pioneers for a game-high 29 points on the night, mostly inside but also adding a pair of 3-pointers and making good on 3 of 4 shots from the charity stripe. His 10 points in the first quarter accounted for more than half of the Cougars’ 17 points in the opening period, Mountain Heritage jumping out to a 17-8 lead at the end of the initial stanza.
Watauga actually outscored their hosts, 17-14, in the second quarter behind nine points from Wyatt Kohout and six from long range by Wyatt Keller. That performance pulled the Pioneers to within six points by intermission, 31-25, but the Cougars exploded for 22 points in each of the final two periods while clamping down on the Pioneers, defensively.
Kohout finished the game with a team-high 15 points. No other Pioneers managed double figures.
With this win over a competitive 4A school in Watauga, Mountain Heritage leaves little doubt that they aim to be a factor in the 1A state playoffs at the end of the regular season. Now 5-1 in their non-conference schedule (the only loss on Nov. 28 to an as yet undefeated Enka [Asheville] team), Mountain Heritage will next test their mettle in conference games at Rosman before two home games vs. Owen (Black Mountain) and a rematch vs. Enka before Christmas, on Dec. 21.
The loss evens Watauga’s early season, non-conference record to 3-3. The Pioneers have three more games before the Christmas holiday: at Lake Norman on Friday, Dec. 16, at home against Davie on Saturday, Dec. 17, and at T.C. Roberson in Asheville on Dec. 21. Their first action after Christmas is the High Country Holiday Classic hosted by Watauga, Dec. 28-29-30.
SCORING
- MTN Max Smoker (29)
- WAT Wyatt Kohout (15)
- MTN Jace Loven (14)
- WAT Wyatt Keller (7)
- MTN Adam Ledford (6)
- WAT Grant Morrison (5)
- WAT Maddox Greene (5)
- MTN Jesse Shelton (5)
- MTN Colby Capps (5)
- WAT Jackson Pryor (4)
- MTN Aiden Silvers (4)
- MTN Vaughn Smoker (3)
- MTN Griffen Ray (3)
- WAT Davis Hunt (2)
- WAT Nate Gutschall (2)
- WAT Seth Greene (2)
- WAT Josiah Railey (2)
- WAT Cole Horine (2)
- MTN Lawson Higgins (2)
