By David Rogers. CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Resilience is a common characteristic of winning sports teams, whether after a game or during a competition. Watauga women’s basketball team exhibited both on Nov. 26, coming from behind to defeat Charlotte area power Myers Park, 53-41, in the Charlotte Hoops Challenge at the Eric T. Ward Athletic Center on the campus of Harding University High School.
After losing a close, pre-Thanksgiving contest on Nov. 23 at Shelby High School, 39-36, there were questions about what Watauga’s performance against Myers Park would look like against the highly ranked Charlotte area team. So when the first quarter ended 17-7 in favor of the Mustangs, some of the Pioneer fans suspected that Myers Park’s 80-17 domination of Richmond earlier in the week was hardly a fluke.
Watauga head coach Laura Barry said that her Pioneers started the game a little “shell-shocked.” Myers Park often uses a ferocious, pressing defense and just as the Mustangs intended, it bothered the Watauga players in the first quarter. It’s not as if there weren’t opportunities, but errant passes led to several early turnovers and most shots at the basket felt rushed — so of course clanged off the rim and backboard without going through the net. Missed shots, especially when they are rebounded by an opponent, are turnovers of another form, even if not identified by the scorekeeper as such.
Fast forward to the end of the first half and Watauga had shaken off early jitters, rallied and took a 28-25 lead into intermission. In short, they turned the tables on Myers Park and the closest the Mustangs ever got from the start of the second half to the end of the game was a 2-point deficit. The Pioneers outscored Myers Park 21-9 in the second quarter and matched that output in the third quarter, to take a 49-35 lead into the final stanza and boasted a 16-point advantage with just over six minutes remaining in the game.
Led by Kate Sears and Laurel Kiker getting into double figures, scoring with 25 and 10 points, respectively, Watauga augmented its strong offensive output with disruptive defense. The Pioneers poached eight steals on the afternoon, two each by Sears, Kiker and Kaitlyn Darner, while power forward Brooke Scheffler added two blocked shots, defensively.
Both teams were strong on the boards, and the numbers reflect it with each pulling down 23 rebounds. Sears (6), Caroline Farthing (5), Kiker (3) and Scheffler (3) were the Pioneers’ top performers in clearing the boards. Watauga overcame the challenge of Myers Park’s height advantage, with an 18-10 advantage in points inside the paint and poured in 21 points from 3-point range.
Myers Park was led in scoring by Raven LeXander (12) and Reese Wilson (12), but it was Jerin Truesdale coming off the bench who recorded a game-high seven rebounds.
“We started the game a little shellshocked and challenged on their toughness,” said Barry. “We were rebounding the ball and then getting it ripped away from us and making bad passes. All this pressure is coming and we are just throwing the ball in the air. I think we settled down quickly and had some big plays in big minutes in the first half, Laurel Kiker, Julie Matheson, notably. We got into a methodical style of attack, which is how we want to play. And that was for the rest of the game. We pressured well. We attacked in the half court for made shots. And we did our jobs tremendously on defense. That is a good Myers Park team and Laurel and Caroline did great on the point of our zone. It was fun to watch today and we learned a lot on the floor today.”
There is a sense in watching Sears that she makes everyone else on the team better.
“Yes, you saw that last year as a freshman. She elevated everyone with her addition to the team,” said Barry. “This team does not revolve around Kate, though. We aim to be a very good team with a fabulous player on it. And with this afternoon’s performance, I think this team is realizing that they can be that. Today, you saw us realize who we want to be.”
Now in its 13th year, the Charlotte Hoops Challenge has become a special high school basketball event. High Country Sports sat down with organizers Jermaine Walker and Cristie Mitchell to learn more about it.
Mitchell typically organizes the women’s side of the event and Walker the men’s side. From the sounds of it, there is a well-researched effort to match some of the best teams of both genders.
“I look at the rosters of some of the previous year’s best performing teams and try to determine who and how many (of the players) are coming back. I want to get the top teams in the area,” said Mitchell. “That is why Watauga was invited and they just had a big win against Myers Park. We also try to match public and private schools because they frequently don’t get to play each other during any given season. Often we match a 2A state champ against a 3A state champ or a 3A champ vs. a 4A champ. The goal is to create high levels of competition and great basketball games. And you just saw a very entertaining women’s game between Myers Park and Watauga.”
Mitchell reported that this is Watauga’s first year in the Charlotte Hoops Challenge and, she said, the Pioneers came from the furthest away this year.
Mitchell said that while they have never had a title sponsor, the event costs roughly $22,000 each year to put it on. Any proceeds go in the bank to help defray the next year’s costs.
“We would love to have a banner sponsor, a major sponsor to come in and help us run it,” said Mitchell, “but we have been able to run it successfully for 13 years without one.”
Walker noted that in the men’s division there is an actual tournament within the larger event, involving four teams this year.
“The goal is to make that more of a national tournament. The winner gets a big trophy,” said Walker. “We would love to have one of these tournaments on the women’s side, but right now it is just the guys.”
Mitchell added that the entire event involves 36 teams this year.
“So, technically, we are the largest Thanksgiving weekend event on the East Coast and one of the largest in the country for high school sports,” said Mitchell.
While Watauga came from the furthest away this year, other teams have come from even farther away in previous years, including Canada. And the basketball talent playing in their event is undeniable.
“To date, in those previous 12 years, at last count we have had 14 or 15 players who later competed in the NBA,” said Mitchell.
SELECTED TEAM STATS
- Points Scored – WAT 53, MP 41
- Rebounds – WAT 23, MP 23
- 3-Point Shots – WAT 7/16 (43.8%), MP 4/16 (25%)
- Free Throws – WAT 10/15 (66.7%), MP 13/16 (81.3%)
- Points in the Paint – WAT 18, MP 10
- Bench Points – WAT 8, MP 10
- Turnovers – WAT 15, MP 14
Scoring Leaders
- WAT Kate Sears (25)
- MP Raven LeXander (12)
- MP Reese Wilson (12)
- WAT Laurel Kiker (10)
- MP Kamora Cannie (7)
- WAT Julie Matheson (6)
- WAT Caroline Farthing (5)
Rebounding Leaders
- MP Jerin Truesdale (7)
- WAT Kate Sears (6)
- WAT Caroline Farthing (5)
- MP Raven LeXander (4)
