By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Down by as many as 13 points in the second half, the No. 7 seeded Watauga Pioneers flipped the script down the stretch and roared back to tie the game at 73-73 by the end of regulation, then prevailed in overtime to defeat the No. 10 seeded Mount Tabor Spartans, 80-77.

For the Pioneer faithful, it was as thrilling a game as a high school basketball contest in the second round of the NCHSAA 4A playoffs can get. Watauga had to overcome a 40-point performance by Virginia Tech football (wide receiver) commit Shamarius Peterkin, a 6-3 point guard who is rumored to also be going to the Hokies to play basketball.

“Really proud of the guys,” said a smiling Watauga head coach Bryson Payne afterward. “They stuck in and played hard all game. There were times when the momentum was going the other way, but we continued to fight. Then we went on a run late.”

Payne admitted to having few answers for the Spartans’ Peterkin — and being thankful when he fouled out late in the fourth quarter.

“The scorebook will tell you. He (Peterkin) was lighting it up,” said Payne. “And a lot them were tough shots. We tried to make it hard on him to get to the rim, but he just kept getting those threes. He is a phenomenal player. Getting him in foul trouble and off the floor eventually was huge for us because they were going to him every possession. With him off the floor, they were looking for somebody else to help (score) and they really didn’t get it.”

Meanwhile, Watauga stayed within shouting distance of the lead with 20 combined points from senior guard/forward Josiah Railey and junior combo guard Cade Keller in the third quarter. Complemented by additional scoring inside from junior forward Jace Blocker, Railey and Keller’s third quarter production helped Watauga establish some semblance of momentum, closing the gap to 58-63 to open the final stanza.

In the fourth quarter, Watauga chipped away at the lead, forcing Mount Tabor turnovers and errant shots on defense and limiting the Spartans to just 10 points while Keller, Jackson Love, and Railey combined for 15 points in the period, allowing the Pioneers to knot things up at 73-73 with 2:01 to play.

When Peterkin fouled out with 36 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and the game went into overtime, the advantage clearly shifted to the Pioneers.

With the win, Watauga advances to the third round where they will travel to challenge No. 2 seeded West Forsyth (26-3, 14-1), which edged out Mount Tabor to claim the 4A Central Piedmont Conference championship in the regular season.

SCORING SUMMARY

• MTB – Shamarius Peterkin (40 points)
• WAT – Josiah Railey (27)
• WAT – Cade Keller (25)
• WAT – Jackson Love (16)
• MTB – Will Koonin (15)
• WAT – Maddox Greene (9)
• MTB – Dorian Moore (9)
• MTB – Jayden Smith-Muhfooth (7)
• MTB – Aidan O’Gara (6)
• WAT – Jace Blocker (3)

OTHER ROUND 2 MEN’S GAMES OF LOCAL INTEREST

• 4A WEST – No. 2 West Forsyth 54, No. 18 South Caldwell 47
• 4A WEST – No. 13 Chambers 65, No. 4 McDowell 58
• 3A WEST – No. 11 Ben L. Smith 79, No. 6 A.C. Reynolds 61

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Visiting Hough High School women’s basketball came roaring back from a big first quarter deficit to tie the game before halftime, but host Watauga built on a 2-point, buzzer-beater lead at intermission — and held on in the second half to take a 66-56 win in front of a standing room only crowd in Lentz Eggers Gym on Feb. 28.

With the win, the No. 3-seeded Pioneers advance to the third round of the state 4A playoffs and will host No. 6 Northern Guilford on Tuesday, March 4. Watauga defeated the Nighthawks, 61-41, in a non-conference contest on the road, in Greensboro, but Northern Guilford grew into the season and finished No. 1 in the highly competitive, 4A Metro Conference and into the state playoffs with a 20-7 overall record, 12-4 in conference play.

Against Hough, Pioneer senior Kate Sears scored 12 of her game-high 33 points in just the first quarter, helping Watauga get off to a fast start, complimented by dramatic 3-pointers off the hands of sophomore Blair Haines and senior Julie Matheson. The Pioneers took a 20-13 advantage into the second quarter.

Hough recovered from the slow start, however, and tied the game at 24-24 with a little more than four minutes remaining in the first half, propelled by a deadly outside shooting performance from senior point guard Chloe Galombeck and the strong inside play of junior guard Kate Breault and sophomore guard Ka’Leiya Jones, the trio combining for 14 of the Huskies’ 19 total points in the second quarter, briefly taking the lead before Watauga’s Matheson buried a 3-pointer from the left corner, the half-ending buzzer going off as the ball arched through the air. The timely shot brought a roar from the crowd, giving the Pioneers a tenuous, 34-32 lead and their fans something to think about during the break.

“Hough is a really good team,” said Watauga head coach Bill Torgerson after the game. “The score (in Hough’s schedule) that really got our attention was they lost to Mallard Creek, 64-60… To have played Mallard Creek that tough alerted us that Hough would have a really good team. They have a bunch of shooters and they do a really nice job of driving and getting it to them. We were in a little bit of trouble, at least in the first half.”

Ultimately, said Torgerson, his team hung in there, executed and was able to pull away.

Early on, during the Huskies’ comeback rally, Torgerson admitted that Hough was taking advantage of the Pioneers’ defensive scheme.

“We had to make some changes, which helped, and then we started getting some good shots, including Julie Matheson’s buzzer beater 3-pointer at halftime,” said the Pioneers’ second year head coach. “They were doing a good job of cutting on the back side… but our vision got better as the game went along.”

Torgerson credited the chemistry between Sears and Kaitlyn Darner at the top of the key and some smart defensive stops by forward Chloe Wilson coming off the bench as major contributors to Watauga’s ability to extend the lead in the second half.

In Round 3, Watauga will meet a Northern Guilford team that romped past Rocky River in the first round, 48-31, then held off Charlotte Catholic, 65-57, in the second round.

SCORING SUMMARY

• WAT – Kate Sears (33 points)
• WAT – Julie Matheson (12)
• WAT – Blair Haines (12)
• WAT – Izzy Torgerson (6)
• WAT – Chloe Wilson (2)
• WAT – Kaitlyn Darner (1)
• HGH – Sophia Zoerb (17)
• HGH – Chloe Galombeck (15)
• HGH – Kate Breault (10)
• HGH – Jacquelyn Jakubecy (6)
• HGH – Ka’Leiya Jones (6)

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — It may have been seen as a minor play in the overall result, but when Watauga forward Landon Smith received a pass in the left corner and raced down the baseline to deliver a resounding slam dunk with only a couple of minutes left in the game, it put an exclamation point on the Pioneers’ 56-42 win over East Mecklenburg in Round 1 of the 4A state playoffs.

Watauga’s Josiah Railey, Cade Keller and Maddox Greene were playing “keep away” just inside the half-court line, with the desperate Eagles pressing, trying to get the ball back. Suddenly, the ball was passed to an open Smith and the senior punctuated the opportunity made possible by Watauga’s team strategy.

The Sequence

Photographic images by Jared Everett for High Country Sports

Whenever high school teams from urban areas who placed down in their league standings meet even the top teams from some of the more rural conferences in the state playoffs, seeding upsets may occur. That may have been the fear of No. 7-seeded Watauga fans on Feb. 25, but the Pioneers held off the No. 26-seeded Eagles of East Mecklenburg to advance to Round 2 of the NCHSAA 4A West bracket. On Feb. 28, Watauga will host No. 10 Mount Tabor, a 69-55 victor vs. No. 23 Grimsley.

East Meck finished No. 4 in a very strong Charlotte area conference, the 4A Southwestern Conference, behind Independence, Charlotte Catholic and Butler, but finished 15-11 overall and 7-5 in conference.

“East Meck finished well with some of their players out with injuries,” said Watauga head coach Bryson Payne after the game. “So we really didn’t know what team we were going to be facing.”

What Payne and the Pioneers did know is that like a lot of Charlotte area teams they like to run up-tempo, pushing the ball in transition. While Watauga also likes to run, part of the strategy against the Eagles, Payne explained, was to slow things down a bit.

Combined with a strong defensive effort, Watauga hit East Meck from both the inside and outside. Junior forward Jace Blocker and junior guard Cade Keller shared game-high scoring honors with 17 points each. Keller managed it with a lot of Eagles seemingly glued to his every move. As the Pioneers’ leading scorer, it was obvious East Meck came into the game seeking to blanket Keller.

The attention drawn by Keller on the perimeter, though, created some of the opportunities exploited by Blocker in the paint as well as by seniors Josiah Railey (9 points) and Maddox Greene (6).

Watauga only trailed in this game early in the first period, finishing the opening stanza with a tenuous, 13-11 advantage. They built on their lead to 30-24 at intermission, then to 44-33 to begin the final period. But against a talented and athletic East Meck team, no lead seemed “safe” until the final minutes, even seconds.

The Eagles’ offense was centered around guard Ahmari Hicks (16 points) and Jordan Buzzard (8).

SCORING SUMMARY

• WAT – Cade Keller (17 points)
• WAT – Jace Blocker (17)
• WAT – Josiah Railey (9)
• WAT – Maddox Greene (6)
• WAT – Landon Smith (5)
• WAT – Brady Lindenmuth (2)
• EM – Ahmari Hicks (16)
• EM – Jordan Buzzard (8)
• EM – Nixon Wright (6)
• EM – James McIver (6)
• EM – Braylan Caldwell (5)
• EM – Vance Johnson (1)

Round 1, 4A West Bracket Results

BOLD – Seeding Upsets

• No. 1 Lake Norman 89, No. 32 Cuthbertson 74
• No. 17 Hopewell 53, No. 16 Charlotte Catholic 52
• No. 25 Reagan 69, No. 8 Northern Guilford 57
• No. 9 Myers Park 74, No. 24 Butler 65
• No. 5 Independence 54, No. 28 Palisades 34
• No. 12 Mooresville 61, No. 21 Ardrey Kell 50
• No. 13 Chambers 73, No. 20 Hickory Ridge 72
• No. 4 McDowell 64, No. 29 Hough 59
• No. 3 North Mecklenburg 68, No. 30 Mallard Creek 51
• No. 14 Davie 69, No. 19 South Mecklenburg 66
• No. 6 Weddington 68, No. 27 Cox Mill 55
• No. 11 East Forsyth 86, No. 22 Olympic 60
• No. 7 Watauga 56, No. 26 East Mecklenburg 42
• No. 10 Mount Tabor 69, No. 23 Grimsley 55
• No. 18 South Caldwell 77, No. 15 Southwest Guilford 75
• No. 2 West Forsyth 77, No. 31 Marvin Ridge 70

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

By David Rogers. HICKORY, N.C. — With hardly any time on the practice field, the Watauga women’s soccer teams made a road trip to Hickory on Feb. 24, to take on St. Stephens in non-conference action. While the varsity lost a tight one, 1-0, in the nightcap, the shorthanded JVs rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the first half to “rain goals” in the second, winning 6-3.

Since these were as much non-conference exhibitions as anything, we will dispense with the play by play and go straight to some photos, from both games. Rosters have not yet been added to MaxPreps, so we will go without player IDs on this go-round. All photographic images by David Rogers for High Country Sports.

JUNIOR VARSITY

VARSITY

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — It will be another first round doubleheader for Watauga’s men’s and women’s basketball teams on Tuesday, Feb. 25. Coming off their championship performance in the Northwestern Conference tournament on Feb. 21, the Pioneer women were awarded the No. 3 seed in the NCHSAA 4A West Bracket and will face No. 30 seeded T C Roberson, of Asheville.

The Watauga men’s team, which finished as the NWC conference tourney runner-up in losing to Freedom, received the No. 7 seed in the 4A West Bracket and will host East Mecklenburg.

In other first round notes:

• 4A West, WOMEN – McDowell (Marion) received the No. 1 seed and will host No. 32 Mt. Tabor.
• 4A West, WOMEN – Alexander Central is the No. 16 seed an will host No. 17 Porter Ridge
• 4A West, WOMEN – Like Watauga, South Caldwell is in the lower half of the bracket and seeded, No. 11, to host No. 22 Charlotte Catholic.
• 4A West, WOMEN – The No. 2 seed is Lake Norman, hosting No. 31, Cox Mill.
• 4A West. MEN – Seeded No. 18, South Caldwell is the only other Northwestern Conference team to make the playoffs on the men’s side. They will travel to No. 15 Southwest Guilford.
• 3A West, MEN – Freedom received the No. 7 seed and will host No. 26 Northwest Cabarrus.
• 3A West, WOMEN – Ashe County received the No. 29 seed and will travel to No. 4 A C Reynolds.
• 3A West, WOMEN – No. 21 Hibriten will play a first round game, traveling to No. 12, East Lincoln.
• 1A West, MEN – No. 23 Avery County travels to No. 10 South Stanly
• 1A West, WOMEN – No. 13 Avery County will host No. 20 Andrews

The tipoff times have not been announced.

The full 4A Women’s Bracket can be reached by clicking HERE.

The full 4A Men’s Bracket can be reached by clicking HERE.

By David Rogers. WEST JEFFERSON, N.C. — It is hard to beat a good basketball team three times in a row at any level, especially when the first two contests were nailbiters. Freedom proved just that on Feb. 21, rallying from a 10-point deficit in the first half to defeat regular season nemesis Watauga, 79-75, to capture the Northwestern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament title.

The allure of two big games had the host Ashe County Huskies gymnasium packed to the rafters on this night. What amounted to a Watauga doubleheader featured the Pioneers’ women against South Caldwell, the only Northwestern Conference rival to put a blemish on their league record in 2025, a 93-91 double-overtime defeat on Jan. 31. Watauga proved their point with a 75-48 shellacking of the Hudson quintet and the gym was still abuzz with the Pioneers’ dominance.

For the nightcap final, it was the Watauga men vs. Freedom. At home on Jan. 22, the Pioneers leveraged strong inside performances by forward Jace Blocker and the versatile Josiah Railey to hold off Freedom, 77-70. Then on Feb. 12, Watauga survived a fourth quarter Freedom rally to win in Morganton, 72-69.

At the outset of the tournament championship game, Watauga appeared to take command, finishing the first quarter with a 9-point, 24-15 lead. But with the Patriots’ star forward Amore Connelly scoring 14 of his 17 game points in the second quarter, Freedom shrugged off the early deficit to close within a point at intermission, 39-38.

Momentum shifted in favor of the Patriots in the second half as the Pioneers cooled off in the shooting department. By the end of the third period, Freedom led, 60-55, and foul trouble was having an impact. Stalwart forward Blocker fouled out in the second half while guards Maddox Greene and Eli Bishop finished the contest with four fouls apiece. Watauga nonetheless battled back to a one-point deficit, 65-66, at the 4:11 mark, but the Patriots continually frustrated the Pioneers’ efforts to complete the comeback.

With the regular season Northwestern Conference title under its collective belt, Watauga should still end up with a favorable seed in the upcoming NCHSAA 4A Basketball Championship playoffs, with the first round scheduled for Feb. 25. The seedings and first round pairings are slated to be announced on Sunday, Feb. 23. Freedom will get the top 3A nod from the Northwestern Conference and its seeding prospects will be bolstered by the tourney championship game victory over its 4A rival Watauga.

Selected Team Stats

• FG% – WAT 42.9% (27-63), FRE 49.2$ (30-61)
• 3FG% – WAT 31.8% (7-22), FRE 26.1% (6-23)
• FT% – WAT 58.3% (14-24), FRE 59.1% (13-22)
• Points in Paint – WAT 38, FRE 42
• Points off Turnovers – WAT 10, FRE 9
• Second Chance Points – WAT 8, FRE 9
• Fast Break Points – WAT 12, FRE 14
• Bench Points – WAT 9, FRE 12

Key Performers

• WAT – Cade Keller: 24 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds
• WAT – Josiah Railey: 18 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 block
• WAT – Maddox Greene: 10 points, 7 assists, 1 block, 1 steal, 3 rebounds
• WAT – Jace Blocker: 9 rebounds, 6 points, 2 assists
• FRE – Kobe Johnson: 18 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals
• FRE – Amore Connelly: 17 points, 6 assists, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals
• FRE – King Johnson: 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
• FRE – Braxton King: 12 points

BONUS PHOTOS