By David Rogers. CONNOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. — Watauga rallied in the second quarter of the boys middle school basketball game at East Burke but could survive Connolly Springs boys’ first and third quarter offensive explosions.
Led by Tyler Brown’s 23 points — 17 of them in the first half — and Sam Keaton’s 18 (11 in the second half), East Burke rolled to a convincing, 55-29 win over Watauga on Jan. 12.
In the loss, Watauga’s Noah Vanverkhoven tallied a team-high 11 points while J. J. Everett and Aiden Amason contributed 8 and 6 points, respectively.
With the loss, the Watauga boys’ record evens out to 7-7 on the season. Next up on the schedule is a game against Providence Academy on Jan. 17 at the Watauga Community Recreation Center, with action to begin following the 4:30 p.m. girls game.
Watauga girls rally for 25-22 win
With a 13-7 run in the fourth quarter, Watauga’s district middle school girls basketball team rallied to defeat East Burke on Jan. 12 in Connolly Springs.
For Watauga, Blair Haines scored 9 of her game-high 12 points in the second half, seven of them in the decisive fourth quarter. Stephanie Morales-Mendez added 6 points over the course of the game to help lead the visitors.
East Burke’s Addie Brittain poured in a team-high 8 points, 6 of them in the first half in helping the home team to a 9-8 advantage at intermission. With buckets from East Burke’s Sarabeth Bradley, Sydney Mostellar, and Saleen Franklin in the third quarter while limiting Watauga to just 4 points in the period, the Connolly Springs quintet seemed to take control, 15-12, as the low-scoring contest entered the fourth quarter.
Watauga’s Haines, however, had other ideas as she tallied more than half (7) of the visitors’ 13 final period points, with contributions from Presli Wood, Paige Shuman, and Izzy Mohr in the finale to put the game away.
With the win, the Watauga district middle school girls team extends its season record to 11-2. The next opponent is Providence Academy, scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 17 at Watauga Community Recreation Center.
