By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Turning back a pair of 9-0 runs in the second half by visiting Mount Tabor, Watauga High School’s varsity women’s basketball team overcame a host of turnovers and unforced errors to survive Round 1 of the NCHSAA 6A state playoffs, defeating the Spartans, 60-51, on Feb. 24.
Helping the Pioneers’ cause was Mount Tabor’s inability to find the basket, both through awkward shooting as well as disruptive defense by Watauga. Although each of the Round 1 adversaries hit on seven attempts from beyond the 3-point arc, a significant determinant in the outcome was at the free throw line, where Mount Tabor made good on just 2-of-7 (28.5 percent) while the Pioneers succeeded in 19-of-25 (76 percent) free throw attempts.
Ten of Watauga’s opportunities at the charity stripe came in the waning minutes of the game as Mount Tabor, growing desperate, fouled the Pioneers (hoping for missed free throws and getting the ball back). The Spartan’s ramped up the pressure on Watauga’s inbounding the ball late in the fourth quarter and the Pioneers didn’t handle it well, turning the ball over and seeing what was once a 15-point lead shrink to just a 3-point advantage before steadying the proverbial ship.
A lot of Watauga’s scoring credit must go to freshmen Josie Mayo and Mia Mitchell. The still developing Mitchell hit a critical 3-pointer and two big free throws late in the game, en route to a 16 point total for the night. Mayo was sent to the free throw line seven times in the fourth quarter alone, making good on six of the opportunities. She finished with a game-high 24 points, which included making 10-of-13 free throws.
“I feel like we survived,” said Watauga head coach Bill Torgerson after the game. “We had a layup to go up 17 in the third quarter, and missed it. We missed a lot of easy shots and looked a little frazzled. We had a lot of turnovers. It was crazy… sliding pivot feet, dribbling off a teammate’s foot (with the ball going out of bounds). I turned to one of the other coaches at one point and asked, ‘What are we watching?’
“We stayed positive, though, and in the moment. We got some big threes and shots from Josie, Shelby (Thompson) and Mia. Against Alexander Central last week we didn’t make a lot of free throws. Tonight, if we don’t get a couple of those threes and miss the free throws again, we lose,” Torgerson added.
“Mount Tabor played a different kind of man-to-man defensive style. At first, we found their soft press easy to beat, then we didn’t transition very well to the man-to-man stuff. Then they came really hard with the denial and trap stuff at the end and we were kind of medium against that.”
Next up for Watauga is a Round 2 road game against Ragsdale on Feb. 26.
KEY SCORERS
- WAT – Josie Mayo: 24 points
- WAT – Mia Mitchell: 16
- WAT – Shelby Thompson: 9
- WAT – Izzy Mohr: 5
- WAT – Presli Wood: 2
- MTA – Kayden Grayson: 16
- MTA – Kate Ledgerwood: 13
- MTA – Millie Scurry: 9
- MTA – Amari Morris: 6
BONUS PHOTOS
