Watauga boys

crush Mitchell
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

SPRUCE PINE — After blowing a 10-point lead in a loss to West Caldwell last week, Watauga has been a tough team to stop.

The Pioneers blasted Mitchell 64-38 in a game that really didn’t seem that close. Watauga (4-3) opened a 32-9 halftime lead and then was more than willing to trade baskets with the Mountaineers (1-5) the rest of the game.

“Our intensity level, especially at the beginning of the game, was huge. We wanted to come out and land the first blow and we did that,” Pioneers coach Rob Sanders said. “Our focus turned to being able to finish it off.”

Watauga, which took a 50-19 lead on Avery last Friday en route to an easy victory, did the same thing to Mitchell. Watauga did not have one major scorer — Jeff Newell led the team with 13 points — but all but one Pioneer reached the scoring column. Ian Dale and David Isaacs each scored 10 points, while Chad Eppley scored eight and Murphy Fancher scored seven.

Watauga claimed a 12-0 lead before the Mountaineers’ Corey Greene broke the ice with a basket with 4:18 left in the period. The Pioneers finished the first quarter with a 16-5 lead and increased it to 32-6 in the second before the Mountaineers got a three-point play from Greene with 30.5 seconds left in the quarter.

Mitchell hit just 1-of-10 from the field and committed five turnovers in the second quarter. Watauga turned the ball over on its first three possessions in the period until Newell hit a bucket with 6:51 left. Isaacs followed with three-straight baskets, two of them 3-pointers.

After Newell scored on a Zach Greene assist, Isaacs scored on a layup off a Ethan Moyer steal to give Watauga a 30-6 lead with a minute remaining in the period.

Isaacs followed with an assist to Newell 22 seconds later to close out the Pioneers’ scoring in the first half.
“In a game like that, it’s easy for guys to lose their intensity and focus and kind of go through the motions,” Sanders said. “I felt like we did that at times, in the first half in particular. But we did a much better job of keeping our intensity up and putting the score out of our minds and focusing on playing basketball in the second half.”

Alan Herndon, who missed the first six games because of an injury, returned to the Pioneers lineup Tuesday. He did not score, but his presence gives the Pioneers another big player in the middle.

Mitchell got 13 points from Logan Jenson. No other Mountaineer scored more than Greene’s five points.

“We tried to keep different defensive looks going and try to find good matchups with the personnel that we have,” Sanders said. “I really felt like our 3-2 zone matched our first group really well and when we went with the second group, which is a smaller but quicker group, they were better suited to go man and both groups had a lot of success with that.”

Watauga turns its attention to Northwestern 4-A Conference rival South Caldwell. The Spartans host Watauga in a Friday showdown.

“We know that they’re going to be very young,” Sanders said. “Last year, they were a lot like we are this year, very senior dominated. They graduated a very talented class. If nothing else, they’ll be playing extremely hard.”

Watauga boys 64, Mitchell 38
Watauga (4-3)
Fancher 3 1-2 7, Steury 1 3-4 5, Watson 1-2-3 4, Greene 1 0-0 2, Moyer 1 0-0 2, Isaacs 4 0-0 10, Chiarolanzio 1 1-2 3, Newell 6 1-2 13, Eppley 3 2-2 8, Herndon 0 0-0 0, Dale 5 0-0 10. Totals 26 10-15 64.
Mitchell (1-5)
Synder 1 1-2 3, Barnhill 0 1-2 1, Rezzonico 0 0-0 0, Norris 1 0-0 2, Greene 2 1-1 5, Burleson 1 2-6 4, Hall 2 0-0 4, Jenson 6 1-1 13, Ellis 2 0-0 4, Waldrove 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 6-12 38.
Watauga 16 16 17 15 — 64
Mitchell 5 4 20 9 — 38
3-point goals—Watauga 2 (Isaacs 2), Mitchell, none. Rebounds—Watauga 30 (Chiarolanzio, Dale 7), Mitchell 26 (Jenson 5). Turnovers—Watauga 15, Mitchell 25. Total fouls—Watauga 12, Mitchell 12. Fouled out—None. Technical fouls—none.