By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — A double-double by Kate Sears (22 points, 10 rebounds) along with key rebounding support by Laney Shook (9) and Kaitlyn Darner (6) allowed host Watauga to turn back a withering attack from Alexander Central on Feb. 21 at Lentz Eggers Gym, 45-42, in the women’s semifinals of the Northwestern Conference tournament.
With the win, Watauga will advance to the Feb. 23 championship game vs. the winner of the Ashe County and Hibriten semifinal to be played on Feb. 22.
Fresh legs may have been to the Pioneers advantage against the Cougars. As the No. 1 tournament seed, Watauga had a bye into the semifinals while Alexander Central played and defeated Freedom the night before in a quarterfinal matchup, winning 53-46.
Against the Pioneers, Alexander Central head coach Jon Presnell went with just a six-player rotation. In one sense it was successful in that the three players who were on the floor for the full 32 minutes of the contest each scored in double figures. Forward Kirstyn Herman recorded a double-double of her own with 12 points and 12 rebounds, while guards Meredith Wike and Malayah Adams tallied 11 and 15 points, respectively.
That said, Watauga head coach Bill Torgerson countered with a much deeper bench, deploying a 9-player rotation. Only three Pioneers were on the floor for more than 20 minutes, including Sears (32 minutes), Darner (28) and Charlotte Torgerson (26). While forward starters Shook and Julie Matheson saw a generous amount of floor time at 16 and 18 minutes, respectively, the Pioneers deeper bench saw strong contributions and floor time from Diane McGlamery, Gracie Lawrence, Blair Haines, and Izzy Torgerson.
“We felt it important to keep as many of our starters’ legs as fresh as possible, knowing that Alexander Central had played the night before and might suffer from a little bit of fatigue,” Torgerson acknowledged after the game. “Our bench players were important for this win.”
It was a see-saw battle throughout the contest, with the favored Pioneers unable to gain much in the way of separation.
“Alexander Central is very well coached, so they always bring a tough test for us,” said junior point guard and playmaker, Sears, after the game. “And that was the case tonight.”
With a one-point lead and nearly three minutes to go in the game, Watauga went into “keep away” mode, passing the ball around and forgoing several clear shots at the basket.
“We wanted them to foul us,” said Torgerson, later.
While the ploy was risky with so much time left, it turned out OK for the Pioneers, made possible by their being one of the better ball-handling teams in the Northwestern Conference, as evidenced by just eight turnovers against the hard-pressing Cougars.
They passed around the perimeter as well as inside and back outside and around again several times without taking a shot, obviously frustrating the Cougars as time clicked off the clock. Under a minute left, Alexander Central was forced to foul and that sent senior Charlotte Torgerson to the line, who promptly dropped two from the charity stripe to give Watauga a 3-point lead. With time winding down, a desperate shot by the Cougars to try and tie the game was rebounded by Darner, who quickly directed an outlet pass to Torgerson, who dribbled out the clock.
While the final scheduled time for the Championship matchup has not yet been announced, it is believed to be Feb. 23 at 6:30 p.m., before the men’s championship final.
