Watauga rally falls shy in loss to Furies
By Steve Behr

sports@wataugademocrat.com

Forsyth Country Day looked ready to send Watauga’s girls’ basketball team packing early Tuesday night. The Pioneers had other ideas.

Watauga fell behind by as many as 18 points in the second quarter, but rallied against the Furies in the second half. So, Watauga coach Klay Anderson was not completely disappointed in the Pioneers’ 58-50 loss at Lentz-Eggers Gym.

“I’m not a huge fan of moral victories, but our goal every game is to have a chance to win in the end,” Anderson said. “If you give a team a chance to win at the end of the game, you feel good about what you did.”

Watauga, playing its first game of the season and its first game under Anderson, fell behind 18-9 after the first quarter and at one point in the second period, allowed the Furies to go on a 10-0 run to take a commanding 31-13 lead. But the Pioneers slowly started to claw back and trailed 34-20 by halftime.

The Pioneers started the third quarter with a 10-2 run , keyed by two buckets by Ashlyn Baird, a driving basket by Christina Rees and inside baskets by Nicole Tesh and Emily Pineda. The run pulled the Pioneers to within 36-31 with 5:31 left in the quarter.

“In the first half, they were pressuring us and they weren’t necessarily stealing it from us, but we were throwing it to them at times,” Anderson said. “I knew they were going to be a guard-oriented team, but at halftime we talked about coming out and working the ball inside in the halfcourt and we executed.”

But Forsyth Day regrouped and led 50-39 at the end of the quarter. Watauga slowly crept back into the game in the fourth and trailed 54-50 and had the ball with 1:29 left in the game. Two missed one-and-one opportunities at the foul line by the Pioneers, coupled with four made foul shots by Forsyth’s Margaret Harvey, sealed the win for the Furies.

Anderson liked the way his team cut down on turnovers — the Pioneers gave the ball away 16 times in the first half and just six in the second half — and the way Watauga played better defense in the second half.

“I”m a defensive-minded coach and good defense creates easy offense,” Anderson said. “We started playing better defensively and that led to some fast break opportunities for us.”

Harvey led all scorers with 27 points. She hit three of Forsyth’s five 3-point baskets and also hit seven other shots from the field. Najet Ouardad added 11 points for the Furies.

Watauga countered with 11 points from Baird. Nine Pioneers got into the scoring column with four players — Sarah Caldwell, Ryann Jones, Katherine Mayhew and Rees — scoring six points each.

Watauga plays three games next week, beginning with a showdown at rival Avery on Nov. 27. The Pioneers host Wilkes Central the following day and are at West Caldwell on Nov. 30.

Forsyth Day 58, Watauga 50
Forsyth Day
Davis-Bloom 0 0-2 0, Duggins 3 0-2 6, Dorsett 2 2-2 6, Harvey 10 4-5 27, Ouardad 5 0-1 11, Henderson 1 1-2 4, Upshaw 1 2-2 4, MacDonald 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 9-16 58.
Watauga (0-1)
Butler 0 0-0 0, Caldwell 2 0-0 6, Baird 4 12-2 11, R. Pineda 1 2-2 4, Creed 1 0-0 3, Tesh 2 0-3 4, Jones 3 0-0 6, E. Pineda 2 0-1 4, Mayhew 2 2-4 6, Rees 3 0-0 6, Miller 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 4-10 50.
Forsyth Day 18 16 16 8 — 58
Watauga 9 11 19 11 — 50
3-point goals—Forsyth Day 5 (Harvey 3, Ouardad, Henderson), Watauga 4 (Caldwell 2, Baird, Creed). Rebounds—Forsyth Day 26 (Henderson 6), Watauga 27 (R. Pineda, E. Pineda 5). Turnovers—Forsyth Day 23, Watauga 22. Total fouls—Forsyth Day 14, Watauga 17. Fouled out—None. Technical fouls—None.