By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — It was nasty outside Lentz Eggers Gym on Jan. 12. Cold and wet. Inside, the Watauga women’s basketball team was simply cold — shooting, that is.
Watauga lost a close one, 48-45, to a very skillful and disciplined Hibriten team that shot a whopping seven 3-pointers in the first half alone to take 29-21 lead into intermission. After the halftime break, the Pioneers abandoned a zone defense they employed in the first two periods, throwing a decidedly more effective man-to-man defensive scheme at the Panthers and it paid off. Along with a more disruptive defense, Watauga shot marginally better and “won” the third quarter, 15-8. They even used that momentum early in the final period to tie game, but Hibriten’s Zoey Walker used bookend free throws around a long distance gem to lead her team in putting the game away.
After the game, Watauga head coach Laura Barry acknowledged that it was an off night shooting for her Pioneers, for the most part and said that the “rain of threes” in the first half were on her for sticking with a zone scheme that protected the paint, but left three Panther guards with open looks from outside the arc. Of note: Hibriten had only one 3-point shot made in the second half after making 7 in the first half.
Hibriten’s Emma Porch shot a game-high 17 points on the night, with key offensive production from Walker (15 points) and Katie Story (12).
Watauga’s Kate Sears accounted for a team-high 16 points while shooting guard Charlotte Torgerson was good for 13 points.
If there was true bright spot in Watauga’s performance against Hibriten, it was the play of defensive ace Laurel Kiker, who delivered 7 points on the offensive end of the court.
“Laurel is known for her defensive abilities,” said Barry. “When you can get 7-8 points out of her on offense, she is having a very good night.”
With the loss, Watauga drops to 2-1 in Northwestern Conference play, 12-5 overall. The Pioneers will look to rebound on Jan. 17, at home against Freedom. In winning, the Panthers improve to 16-1 overall and 3-0 in Northwestern Conference action. Hibriten will look to extend their court dominance on Jan. 17, at home against Alexander Central.
SELECTED SCORING
- HIB Emma Porch (17)
- WAT Kate Sears (16)
- HIB Zoey Walker (15)
- WAT Charlotte Torgerson (13)
- HIB Katie Story (12)
- WAT Laurel Kiker (7)
- WAT Caroline Farthing (4)
- WAT Brooke Scheffler (3)
- HIB Alley Oliver (3)
- WAT Kaitlyn Darner (2)
- HIB Sydney White (1)
