By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Leaving little doubt as to who might be the best high school women’s basketball team in northwestern North Carolina, Watauga head coach Bill Torgerson emptied his bench and had nine rostered players make the scoring column, including all five seniors, running away from Ashe County for a 72-33 romp at Lentz Eggers Gym on Feb. 14.
It is yet another Northwestern Conference championship for the Pioneers, who will take the No. 1 seed into the conference tournament slated to begin next week.
After jumping out to a 19-11 lead by the end of the first quarter, led by 13 combined points in the quarter from Kate Sears (7 points in the quarter) and Blair Haines (6), Watauga went for a statement win. Sears finished with a game-high 26 points and Haines, 11, but the Pioneers got broad production from seven other players throughout the night. Senior forward Chloe Wilson again showed how she is growing into her basketball potential with 8 points and even more rebounds in coming off the bench.
Shelby Thompson came off the bench to pour in a half dozen points in the second period with back-to-back 3-pointers. Meanwhile, regular starters Julie Matheson and Izzy Torgerson may have played limited minutes, but contributed 7 points and 5 points, respectively. Little used senior Gracie Lawrence saw her first court time of the year and rewarded the team with four points in the fourth quarter to help keep the rout going.
Ashe County’s Abby Sheets did her part, scoring 25 of the team’s 33 game points. She was 11-of-11 from the free throw line and added two buckets from long distance.
As the No. 1 seed in the Northwestern Conference tourney, Watauga is likely to receive a first round bye. Watauga is also playing for a high seed in the NCHSAA 4A West Bracket of the state tournament.
SCORING SUMMARY
- WAT – Kate Sears (26 points)
- ASHE – Abby Sheets (25)
- WAT – Blair Haines (11)
- WAT – Chloe Wilson (8)
- WAT – Julie Matheson (7)
- WAT – Shelby Thompson (6)
- WAT – Izzy Torgerson (5)
- WAT – Gracie Lawrence (4)
- WAT – Kaitlyn Darner (4)
- ASHE – Abby Eller (4)
- WAT – Steph Mendez (2)
- ASHE – Ally Greer (1)
