WHS rally falls

short vs. Mitchell
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

SPRUCE PINE — Watauga’s offense took a while to wake up. When it did, it nearly erased a 25-point deficit.

The visiting Pioneers scored just 11 points in the first half in its 49-43 loss to Mitchell Tuesday night. Their start was so bad that they were limited to just two points in a first quarter that saw them turn the ball over nine times and hit just 1-of 8 shots from the field.

Yet the Pioneers, after falling behind 32-11 by halftime, rallied to within one point of the Mountaineers (4-3) in the fourth quarter before finally running out of steam. After working the Mitchell lead down to 44-34, the Pioneers went on a 7-0 run, capped by an inside basket by Nicole Tesh, to pull to 44-43 with 1:35 left in the game. The Pioneers took advantage of 12 Mitchell turnovers in the fourth quarter to stage their comeback.

Watauga also outrebounded the Mountaineers 10-9 in the fourth, but lost the overall battle of the boards 39-35 to Mitchell.

The Pioneers’ rally would end after Tesh’s basket. Watauga did not score on its next two possessions, while the Mountaineers scored the final five points of the game to secure the victory.

The game didn’t start out so close. Katelyn Creed scored the Pioneers’ only basket of the first quarter with 2:41 left in the period. By then, Mitchell had already built a 9-0 lead and scored the final seven points of the quarter to take a 16-2 lead.

Watauga had trouble keeping up with Mitchell guard Lakin Norris, who led all scorers with 17 points. Samantha Blevins added 14 points, mostly close to the basket.

Eight players broke into the scoring column for the Pioneers, led by Emily Pineda’s 13 points. However, no others scored more than the six points Katheryn Mayhew scored.

Trailing by 21 at halftime, Watauga allowed Mitchell to score the first four points of the second half to take a 36-11 lead, their largest of the game. The Pioneers trailed 40-17 before scoring the final 12 points of the third quarter. An Ashlyn Baird 3-pointer capped the Pioneers’ 12-0 run and pulled them to within 40-29 heading into the fourth quarter.

Watauga begins Northwestern 4-A Conference play Friday night at South Caldwell.

Mitchell girls 49, Watauga 43
Watauga (4-3)
Butler 2 0-0 5, Caldwell 2 0-1 5, Baird 2 0-0 5, R. Pineda 0 1-2 1, Creed 2 0-0 4, Tesh 0 0-2 4, Jones 0 0-0 0, E. Pineda 5 3-3 13, Mayhew 3 0-0 6, Miller 0 0-0 0, Rees 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 4-8 43.
Mitchell (4-2)
Trivette 3 0-0 6, Jones 0 0-0 0, Hall 0 0-0 0, Holliday 1 0-0 2, Parsley 0 0-0 0, Smith 0 0-0 0, Ayers 1 0-0 2, Norris 5 5-6 17, McKinney 1 4-4 6, Thompson 0 0-0 0, Blevins 6 1-2 14, Peterson 0 2-4 2. Totals 17 12-16 49.
Watauga 2 9 18 14 — 43
Mitchell 16 16 8 9 — 49
3-point goals—Watauga 3 (Butler, Caldwell, Baird), Mitchell 3 (Norris 2, Blevins). Rebounds—Watauga 35 (E. Pineda 7), Mitchell 39 (Norris 10). Turnovers—Watauga 23, Mitchell 28. Total fouls—Watauga 16, Mitchell 11. Fouled out—None. Technical fouls—None.