Pioneers dump

Starmount, win Classic
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

Ashlyn Baird drained four 3-point shots, which helped her score 18 points in Watauga’s 62-44 victory over Starmount in the finals of the Watauga Classic Friday at Lentz-Eggers Gym.

Baird, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, was the only Pioneer to score in double figures. However, every Watauga player scored at least three points. It’s the second straight game that all of the Pioneers reached the scoring column.

In the first game, Watauga belted West Stokes 58-34.

“Watching them (Thursday), I was a little concerned because they have a few bigger girls than what we’ve played against,” Watauga coach Klay Anderson said. “Their guards hit a bunch of threes and their post players cleaned up the junk stuff. I felt that if we could push the tempo, I felt good about our defense and we played one of the best first quarters we’ve ever had.”

The Pioneers made its statement to Starmount early that they would control the game. Watauga raced out to a 15-0 lead, helped by Baird, who scored the first five points of the game with two foul shots and a 3-point bucket. Ryann Jones capped the run, with a 3-pointer of her own.

“We’ve been working on starting fast,” Anderson said. “We created nine turnovers in the first quarter and that turned into instant offense and you can never argue with that. We kept the pressure on and once we built the lead, we never really backed off.”

After Watauga claimed a 19-6 lead, the result of the game was never in doubt. The Pioneers led 36-18 at halftime and took a 45-22 lead in the third quarter. Watauga led 48-29 going in the fourth quarter, and Starmount never got closer than 16 points the rest of the game.

Watauga also held a 39-21 edge on the boards. Nicole Tesh pulled down 10 rebounds for the Pioneers, while Erin Bledsoe grabbed nine for Starmount to go with her seven points. Both were named to the all-tournament team.

Another Starmount player, Taylor Doss was named all-tournament. She led Starmount in scoring with 16 points, while Jordan Raye scored eight.

Watauga got eight points from Katelyn Creed and six each from Emily Pineda and Sarah Miller.

Watauga had blown a lead against Ashe County two weeks ago, but some good practices last week helped the Pioneers put that game in the past.

“We worked really hard on how was our mentality,” Anderson said. “The Ashe game hurt so much because we’ve reached the stage where the girls are believing that they can win games. And when you believe you should win and you don’t win, it hurts more. “

The Pioneers return to Northwestern 4-A Conference play Friday at home against Freedom.

Watauga 62, Starmount 44
Starmount
Taylor 2 0-1 5, Hutchins 1 0-0 2, Raye 2 2-2 8, Alpin 0 0-0 0, Melton 1 0-0 2, Doss 5 4-5 16, Bledsoe 2 3-6 7, Brown 0 0-0 0, Stamper 1 2-2 4. Totals 14 11-16 44.
Watauga
Butler 2 1-2 5, Baird 5 4-6 18, R. Pineda 2 0-0 4, Creed 4 0-0 8, Tesh 2 0-3 4, Jones 1 0-0 3, E. Pineda 3 0-0 6, Mayhew 2 1-5 5, Miller 2 2-2 6, Rees 0 3-4 3. Totals 23 11-22 62.
Starmount 6 12 11 15 — 44
Watauga 19 17 12 14 — 62
3-point goals—Starmount 5 (Doss 2, Raye 2, Taylor), Watauga 5 (Baird 4, Jones). Rebounds—Starmount 21 (Bledsoe 9), Watauga 39 (Tesh 10). Turnovers—Starmount 22, Watauga 22. Total fouls—Starmount 16, Watauga 15. Fouled out—None. Technical fouls—None.

All-Tournament team
Name                  School
*Ashlyn Baird        Watauga
Nicole Tesh           Watauga
Taylor Doss              Starmount
Erin Bledsoe             Starmount
Catelyn Hatwig      Oak Hill
Jessica Brown            West Stokes
*Tournament MVP