By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — It was a game within a game, of sorts. Kate Sears’ 16 points in just the third quarter would have tied for game-high scoring honors, but Watauga’s sophomore point guard had even more to say about the outcome of the Pioneers’ rematch with South Caldwell on Jan. 27.
When the dust had settled on this Northwestern Conference 4A duel, Sears had poured in 38 points across the full four quarters of play while she and her teammates ratcheted down defensively on the Spartans, en route to a dominating, 73-30 win.
According to MaxPreps.com, South Caldwell’s Lillie Bumgarner averages 16.4 points per game. Her 16 points scored against the Pioneers matched that season average but that was just about all the offense the Spartans could put together. South Caldwell guards Addison Edwards (7 points) and Kaylee Anderson (5 points) each had a 3-pointer on the night, both in the third quarter, but the lasses from Hudson could not keep up with the Sears-driven Pioneers.
Watauga simply shot the proverbial lights out at Lentz Eggers Gym in front of a packed house on both sides of the gym floor, including a whopping 14 made shots from behind the 3-point arc, six by Sears and four by another Pioneer sharpshooter, Charlotte Torgerson (12 points on the night). Meanwhile, senior forwards Caroline Farthing (9 points) and Brooke Scheffler (7) added three and one shots, respectively, from long distance.
“It was great to watch our kids shoot like that,” said Pioneer head coach Laura Barry after the game. Our defense was staunch, which is what we have been working on and it was great to see. And when you are hitting three-pointers like that, it is hard to beat.”
Barry and the Pioneers knew that their biggest threat from the Spartans was in Bumgarner.
“She had a big third quarter and we made some adjustments,” said Barry. “Overall, our ball movement was really good. Our play in transition was really good. There are games when we are not shooting as well that we don’t look very good. In the first quarter tonight, we scored 14, which is OK, but as a team we had much better second and fourth quarters and Kate (Sears), of course, had that really big third quarter. Sixteen points is a good complete game for any player.”
What was most remarkable about the Pioneers’ performance on the night, other than their shooting, was the defensive effort. Sears and Julie Matheson each had blocked shots against Bumgarner, while Scheffler, Farthing and Laurel Kiker, along with Sears, were consistently effective in disrupting Spartan possessions.
Late in the game with the commanding lead, the only starter on the court was Sears, the rest Pioneer players coming off the bench.
“It is important for us to get our bench players in,” Barry said, “but we wanted to leave one point guard on the court. That was either going to be Sears or Torgerson and we just decided to leave Kate in there. It could have been either one of them and I think they all played well.”
Now 15-5 overall and 5-1 in Northwestern Conference play, next up for the Watauga women’s team is a home date vs. Alexander Central on Jan. 31 and then a rematch with Hibriten on Feb. 3.
“We beat Alexander Central (Jan. 10, 38-25) down in Taylorsville. It was a close, defensive game without a lot of scoring. Then we suffered our only conference loss here in Boone to Hibriten (Jan. 12, 48-45). I think we will do a lot better. That was the night of the fire here at the school. We didn’t shoot well. There was a lot going on.”
SCORING SUMMARY
- WAT Kate Sears (38)
- SC Lillie Bumgarner (16)
- WAT Charlotte Torgerson (12)
- WAT Caroline Farthing (9)
- WAT Brooke Scheffler (7)
- SC Addison Edwards (7)
- SC Kaylee Anderson (5)
- WAT Kaitlyn Darner (4)
- WAT Julie Matheson (3)
- SC Chloe Phillips (2)
