Pioneers return

to court vs. Mitchell
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

Watauga’s basketball teams go back to work Tuesday and Friday with games at Mitchell and at Northwestern 4-A Conference rival South Caldwell.

The Pioneers’ boys team goes to Mitchell looking to make it two straight following its convincing 84-58 win over Avery last Thursday. The Watauga girls can win its third straight after beating West Caldwell and Avery on successive nights.

Watauga’s boys team, which saw a 10-point lead evaporate at West Caldwell, took an early lead and never looked back against Avery. The Pioneers took a 21-10 lead by the end of the first quarter and then outscored the Vikings 29-9 in the second period to claim a 50-19 halftime lead.

Avery never recovered, though the Vikings outscored Watauga 39-34 in the second half.

Two things helped the Pioneers. The first was rest. Watauga was playing its third straight game, having lost to West Caldwell last Wednesday night and at Ashe County the night before. Because neither game started on time (8 p.m.), the players didn’t get back to Boone until late each night.

However, Watauga canceled school Thursday, which allowed the Pioneers to get some extra sleep. It also allowed them to meet as a team and refocus their effort.

Watauga’s girls faced a back-and-forth game with Avery before pulling away in the fourth quarter. The Pioneers led 41-40 heading into the fourth quarter, but fell behind 48-46 with 2:04 left in the game.

However, Avery would not score again. The Pioneers closed out the game by outscoring the Vikings 7-0, getting a basket from Nicole Tesh, a foul shot from Chandler Butler, another foul shot from Tesh and two free throws from Emily Pineda. Watauga’s final point was scored on a foul shot by Ashlyn Baird with 1.3 seconds left.

Baird led all scorers with 16 points, while Tesh and Butler each added eight.

Results of the Watauga-Mitchell game were not available by press time. They will appear in the Friday edition of the Watauga Democrat.