Rough second quarter

sinks pesky Watauga girls
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

The cure for McDowell’s slow start was Kurie Washington.

The McDowell forward sparked a big second-quarter run and the Titans never looked back in their 64-49 victory over Watauga at Lentz-Eggers Gym Tuesday night.

Washington scored 10 of her game-high 32 points in a second quarter that saw the Titans outscore the Pioneers 18-2 in the first 4:14. Washington capped the run with a steal and a layup that gave McDowell a 27-14 lead.

The Titans’ explosion gave them the wake-up call they needed after allowing Watauga (7-7, 0-2 NWC) to claim a 12-9 lead by the end of the first quarter. Watauga trailed 9-2 with 3:31 left, but closed out the first with a 10-0 run.

“ I’m so proud of them. I’m so proud of the work ethic they gave,” Pioneers coach Klay Anderson said.

“Night after night they give unbelievable effort and they lay it all out there. McDowell, unfortunately, was just a little bit better than us tonight.”

Sarah Miller started it by making a jump shot with 3:03 left. Sarah Caldwell nailed a 3-point shot and then stole the ball and converted a conventional three-point play on McDowell’s next possession.

Caldwell added a steal on McDowell’s following possession, but the Pioneers did not covert it into points. Miller eventually capped the run with a jumper with three seconds left in the period.

Even with its outburst, McDowell did not take a commanding lead into halftime. Watauga settled down and finished with 14 points in the second quarter, and ended up trailing 31-26 at halftime.

The Pioneers closed to 33-29 early in the third quarter, but McDowell, helped by good foul shooting, took a 50-39 lead into the fourth quarter. The Titans, helped by 29 Watauga fouls, hit 28-of-46 from the free throw line, including 10-of-13 in the third quarter.

The Pioneers actually made more shots from the field than the Titans. Watauga held a 17-15 advantage in 2-point field goals and a 3-2 edge in 3-pointers.

But the Pioneers hit just 6-of-13 from the free throw line. McDowell made just one field goal in the fourth quarter — a three-point play scored by Washington, and went 12-of-19 from the line. Watauga fouled McDowell on the Titans’ final four possessions, which Washington hit 4-of-6 from the line in the final 38 seconds of the game.

“I’ll tell you what, we fought tooth and nail,” Anderson said. “We had goals each quarter and we accomplished the goals offensively and defensively and honestly, the free throws, there was a big discrepancy in that. We sent them to the line too much. The rim got small on us there with four minutes in the fourth quarter and when you play a good team, you have to be making them throughout the game.”

Caldwell and Rebekah Pineda each scored 10 points for the Pioneers. Nicole Tesh added six.

Xandi Gellman scored 13 points and Ebonique Hamilton had nine for the Titans.

McDowell girls 64, Watauga 49
McDowell
Greene 1 2-7 5, Ward 1 1-2 4, Washington 7 18-21 32, Gellman 5 3-6 13, Corpening 0 0-0 0, Medford 0 0-2 0, Brooks 0 1-2 1, Hamilton 3 3-6 9. Totals 17 28-46 64.
Watauga
Butler 1 0-1 3, Caldwell 3 2-3 10, Baird 1 0-0 2, R. Pineda 4 2-3 10, Creed 2 0-0 4, Tesh 2 2-6 6, Jones 1 0-0 2, E. Pineda 1 0-0 2, Mayhew 2 0-0 4, Miller 3 0-0 6, Rees 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 6-13 49.
McDowell 9 22 19 14 — 64
Watauga 12 14 13 10 — 49
3-point goals—McDowell 2 (Greene, Ward), Watauga 3 (Caldwell 2, Butler). Rebouns—McDowell 36 (Hamilton 10), Watauga 42 (R. Pineda 8). Turnovers—McDowell 13, Watauga 23. Total fouls–McDowell 13, Watauga 29. Fouled out—None. Technical fouls—None.