Pioneers fall

twice to Titans
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

Watauga had McDowell just where it wanted the Titans, at least in the first quarter.

With Appalachian State signee Petey Hausley and point guard Brian Twitty both on the bench in early foul trouble, the Pioneers had an opportunity to take an early lead on the Titans, who are ranked No. 2 by the Associated Press in the 4-A poll.

Instead, other McDowell players picked up the slack and were able to keep pace with the Pioneers in a 68-64 victory Tuesay night at Lentz-Eggers Gym.

Both players finished with 12 points for the Titans, but both spent much of the first quarter on the bench after picking up two fouls. Hausley headed to the bench with 5:44 left in the first quarter and Twitty followed at the 3:42 mark.

Sanders said assistant coach Jerry Moretz came up with some different ways to defend Hausley, who played in front of his future teammates and coaching staff at Appalachian State, who were in attendance Tuesday night.

“It was a struggle all night,” Pioneers coach Rob Sanders said. “We put in three new defenses (Monday) and all of them were designed to wreak some havoc on Petey. We knew that Petey is used to being double teamed and we wanted him to come out and see something different.”

“When you can keep him off the scoring charts for a half of basketball, you’ve done something,” Sanders added.

It also didn’t hurt the Titans that Watauga committed 30 fouls. The Titans hit 25-of-47 from the foul line and three Pioneers ended up fouling out.

“They hit enough free throws down the stretch to keep us at bay,” Sanders said.

Watauga was able to claim a 28-23 halftime lead after taking a 22-14 lead after opening the second quarter with an 11-2 run. Watauga led 52-48 in the fourth quarter after both Ethan Moyer and Chad Eppley hit a pair of foul shots, the final two coming with 6:27 left in the game.

Eppley and Zach Greene led the Pioneers in scoring with 19 points each. Jeff Newell added nine.

From there, McDowell took control of the game from the foul line and with defense. After the Titans missed five of their first six attempts, McDowell’s Terrance Kincaid nailed four straight to put the Titans in front 55-52. Greene answered with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 55-55, but the Pioneers fell behind 63-55 after not scoring in five straight possessions.

After that dry spell, Watauga started making some plays. It was 65-57 when Greene converted a traditional three-point play with 1:13 left. Newell stole the ball on McDowell’s next possession and found Greene, who scored on a layup with 57 seconds left.

After a Kincaid foul shot, Newell scored on a stickback, pulling the Pioneers to 66-64 with 19.6 seconds left. McDowell’s lead was not completely safe until Eli Miller hit two free throws to ice the game with 15.8 seconds left.

Kincaid, who hit 7-of-15 from the free throw line, finished with 15 points. Miller added 11 for the Titans.
Watauga moves on to play at A.C. Reynolds Friday night.

McDowell boys 68, WHS 64
McDowell
Twitty 5 1-6 12, Miller 2 5-7 11, Dalton 2 0-0 6, Kincaid 4 7-15 15, Hamilton 3 0-1 6, Barnett 0 4-4 4, Hollifield 0 2-2 2, Hausley 3 6-12 12, Webb 0 0-0 0, Kehler 0 0-0 0, Sevens 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 25-47 68.
Watauga
Watson 1 0-0 2, Greene 7 3-3 19, Moyer 1 2-2 5, Isaacs 1 3-7 5, Chiarolanzio 0 2-2 2, Newell 4 0-1 9, Eppley 6 5-6 19, Dale 1 2-2 4, Herndon 0 0-0 0, Fancher 0 0-0 0, Steury 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 17-23 64.
McDowell 12 11 21 24 — 68
Watauga 11 17 20 16 — 64
3-point goals—McDowell 5 (Miller 2, Dalton 2, Twitty), Watauga 5 (Greene 2, Eppley 2, Moyer). Rebounds—McDowell 34 (Kincaid, Hausley 7), Watauga 34 (Newell 8). Turnovers—McDowell 15, Watauga 13. Total fouls—McDowell 19, Watauga 30. Fouled out—Moyer, Isaacs, Chiarolanzio. Technical fouls—None.