By David Rogers. WEST JEFFERSON, N.C. — A 50 percent shooting night from the floor, led by Jackson Pryor (20 points), Wyatt Kohout (14), Cade Keller (12) and Josiah Railey (10), powered the Pioneers of Watauga over the host Ashe County Huskies on Feb. 16, 67-43. The win secured a tie for first place in the Northwestern Conference for the regular season, with South Caldwell, also at 9-1 in league play.
The Pioneers defeated South Caldwell on Jan. 11, 69-51, in Lentz Eggers Gym, then the Spartans defended their home court on Feb. 2, 64-62, to account for the longtime rivals’ only blemishes to their respective conference records.
Watauga led Ashe County from start to finish and were particularly strong in the first and third quarters. In Q1, the Pioneers outpointed the Huskies 29-14 to gain early separation, battled evenly in Q2 (10-11) to take a 39-25 lead into halftime, then gained even more separation in Q3 with an 18-6 performance before cruising to the final buzzer.
Pryor dominated inside the paint, collecting six offensive rebounds for second chance points on his way to an 83 percent shooting night. The senior forward padded his stat line for the night with two steals, one assist, and a blocked shot while committing just two turnovers.
In addition to his 12 points, Keller shared the ball for seven assists and created Ashe County turnovers with four steals.
UPDATED:
For the conference tournament hosted by Watauga this year, as the No. 2 seed Watauga receives a first round bye and will play the Round 1 winner between Freedom and Hibriten on Thursday, Feb. 22, 8:00 p.m. in Lentz Eggers Gym. The Round 2 (semifinals) winners will play in the tournament championship game on Friday, Feb. 23. The women’s final is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. with the men’s final to follow at approximately 8 p.m.
