By David Rogers. CHEROKEE, N.C. — It took awhile for the Watauga High School women’s basketball team to get their bearings but once they did… well, let’s just say the Generals of Lee High School (Huntsville, Ala.), general-lee (to coin a phrase) didn’t stand a chance in the opening round of the Cherokee Invitational on Dec. 20. A relatively tight first half snowballed into a runaway in favor of the Pioneers, 64-33.
Bonus photos at bottom of story
Hosted in the Harrah’s Cherokee Convention Center with a lot of open space around the specially laid and larger (college-size) basketball court, in the first half many of the Pioneers’ shots were coming up short.
“It was a different kind of space,” admitted Pioneer point guard Kate Sears after the final buzzer had sounded. “I think it affected our depth perception early on.”
The spatial environment challenged both teams, but especially Watauga’s players who squandered numerous opportunities to expand the lead even in the first quarter. It wasn’t just the long range attempts that were missing, but close-in layups and put-backs were sailing over and past the rim, too.
“in the first half, we just didn’t shoot very well,” said Pioneer head coach Laura Barry. “As a first game in (this convention hall) it was a bit awkward, but from here on out we should feel better. We shot it well, late in this game.”
Barry admitted some nervousness because of some strategic changes in the way the team played against the Alabama team.
“We played a slower tempo that we are used to playing,” she said, “and I was a little nervous about how that would affect our offense. We were not in our 1-3-1 defense. We changed it up a bit in our other zone. Brooke Scheffler had two fouls, so that was one reason for the change, but we also knew from scouting that Lee hadn’t been handling the 2-3 zone very well. So we played to what we thought was a weakness of theirs.”
Without question, it worked. The defense was disruptive and once the Pioneers started hitting their shots, they kept building on their lead.
Defensively, Watauga limited just two Generals to score in double figures, London Harris (11) and Limaya Batimba (12).
Offensively, sophomore point guard Kate Sears pitched in a game-high 21 points, while shooting guard Charlotte Torgerson added 13.
Watauga turned deadly from 3-point land late and ended with 8 made shots from behind the arc by game’s end. Torgerson, Sears and Julie Matheson each had a pair of 3-pointers, with one each contributed by Brooke Scheffler and Laurel Kiker.
With 9 and 8 points, respectively, Scheffler and Matheson were just shy of double figures.
With the win, the Pioneers advance to play Charlotte Catholic, which features one of the nation’s top 10 ranked players in Blanca Thomas, a 6 ft. 5 in. junior center/power forward who has played on travel teams with Watauga’s Sears, according to both Barry and Will Sears (Kate’s father).
“Blanca is a solid player and we would have gone up against them last year if we had won one that last game. They would have been our next opponent. They are a deep playoff team and they are returning a lot of players. They have solid guard play, but they are particularly strong inside. They have two posts and Blanca is a top 10 player in the country. It will be fun.”
Watauga’s game against Charlotte Catholic is slated for 12 noon on Dec. 21.
The Cherokee Invitational is a special event organized and produced by Insider Exposure. High Country Sports will have more on the event concept and origins in a future report.
SCORING SUMMARY
- WAT Kate Sears (21)
- WAT Charlotte Torgerson (13)
- LEE Limaya Batimba (12)
- LEE London Harris (11)
- WAT Brooke Scheffler (9)
- WAT Julie Matheson (8)
- WAT Laurel Kiker (5)
- LEE Jayla Turner (5)
- WAT Kaitlyn Darner (4)
- WAT Diane McGlamery (4)
- Kelis Silas (3)
- LEE Morgan Pride (2)
BONUS PHOTOS
