By David Rogers. Johnson City, Tenn. — Izzy Mohr and Blair Haines each scored a dozen points on Nov. 29, leading the Watauga District middle school girls basketball team to a narrow, 32-31 win over Liberty Bell, in overtime.
Mohr also led the team in rebounding, with eight, including seven defensive rebounds to deny the Johnson City girls second chance opportunities. Stephanie Mendes-Morales and Paige Shuman also contributed in clearing the boards with six and four rebounds, respectively.
Liberty Bell opened the game looking for a runaway, finishing the first quarter with an 11-5 lead. But the visitors found their legs and turned the tables on their hosts, outscoring Liberty Bell 11-6 in the second quarter and 10-9 in the third. The final quarter of regulation was a 4-4 defensive battle, the teams ending regulation locked in a 30-30 tie. Overtime was also low scoring, Watauga making a basket while limiting Liberty Bell to a single free throw.
As a team, Watauga collected 25 rebounds and poached 12 steals, with Haines also leading the team in thefts (5).
Quinn Haines and Mohr also helped the defensive cause with a blocked shot apiece.
In the scoring column, the Liberty Bell girls were led by Kyleigh Mitchell’s nine points, including one or four free throw attempts in overtime. A trio of Liberty Girl athletes were credited with five points apiece, including Annabelle Eanes (sp), Allie Connor, and Mattie Littleton (sp).
“In Tennessee, they have a state tournament for middle school basketball,” said Watauga head coach, Andy Eggers. “Liberty Bell was state champion in 2020 and had deep runs in the 2019 and 2022 playoffs, too. Our girls battled toe-to-toe with this great program the entire game. This was a great effort by our team tonight and I can’t tell you how proud I am of them for this win.”
Both of Watauga’s middle school boys and girls teams return to action on Friday, Dec. 2, against Calvary Day in Winston-Salem, N.C.
