Pioneers cage Cougars

By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

The Watauga girls’ basketball team did not like what it saw when it watched film of its loss to East Burke last Tuesday.

So when Alexander Central rolled into town, there was a bit more determination to make sure that another disappointing performance would not be repeated. In fact, the Pioneers responded by smothering Alexander Central 56-22 Friday night at Lentz-Eggers Gym.

Watauga did not allow Alexander Central to score more than eight points in any quarter. Despite leading 32-13 at halftime, Watauga held the Cougars to nine points in the second half.

The win was Watauga’s first in the Northwestern 4-A Conference this year and broke a four-game losing streak.

“It’s huge for the seniors and huge for the underclassmen,” Watauga coach Klay Anderson said. “It’s huge because we’ve worked so hard to get where we are, and the girls knew how close we were. To keep coming up short — they stayed hungry for a win.”

Anderson said a tough Wednesday practice, which had an extra emphasis on defense, helped get the Pioneers ready for Friday night.

“It all came from the defensive end,” Anderson said. “We recommitted ourselves to the defensive end on Wednesday. We did not play with a lot of energy on that end Tuesday, and that really concerned me and it concerned the girls.”

Watauga’s offense wasn’t so bad Friday night, either. Alexander Central did not have a clear answer for Emily Pineda.

She scored 13 points and pulled down nine rebounds.

Her sister, Rebekah, added six points and three boards.

Watauga (8-9, 1-5 NWC) also got 13 points from Ashlyn Baird, who hit three of Watauga’s five 3-point shots. Chandler Butler and Sarah Caldwell hit the others. Both finished with five points.

The Pioneers led 15-8 at the end of the first period, but put the game out of reach in the beginning of the second quarter with a 10-0 run, giving them a 25-8 lead. Alexander Central did not score its first basket of the second quarter until Megan Chapman hit a layup with 2:56 left.

After Alexander Central closed to within 25-11, Watauga ended the quarter with a 7-2 run to claim a 32-13 halftime lead.

“We made a whole lot more shots closer tonight,” Anderson said. “I was really proud of the girls.”

Anderson was also pleased to see the Pioneers hold a lead, which has been a problem in other games.

“It was huge. When we were at Wilkes Central a couple of weeks ago, we were up big and we let them chip it back down to one, and we did the same thing when we blew a lead at Ashe County,” Anderson said. “We came out tonight and take the lead, keep the lead and keep pouring on and never let them have any life.”

The Pioneers were able to close out the Cougars despite committing 28 turnovers. However, it didn’t hurt Watauga that Alexander Central turned the ball over 27 times.

Watauga won’t play again until next Friday when it hosts South Caldwell.

Watauga 56, Alex. Cen. 22
Alexander Central
Chapman 2 0-0 4, Morris 1 1-2 3, Brown 0 1-2 1, Looper 1 0-0 2, Linney 1 0-0 2, Price 1 2-4 4, Jnes 1 0-0 2, Johnson 1 2-2 4, Crisp 0 -0 0, Barnes 0 0-0 0, Ikerd 0 0-0 0. Totals 8 6-10 22.
Watauga (8-9, 1-5 NWC)
Butler 2 0-0 5, Caldwell 2 0-0 5, Baird 4 2-2 13, R. Pineda 3 0-0 6, Creed 2 1-1 5, Jones 1 0-0 2, E. Pineda 6 1-4 13, Mayhew 2 0-0 4, Rees 1 1-2 3, Tesh 0 0-0 0, Miller 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 5-9 56.
Alex. Cen. 8 5 6 3 — 22
Watauga 15 17 14 10 — 56
3-point goals—Alexander, none; Watauga 5 (Baird 3, Caldwell, Butler). Rebounds—Alexander 32 (Barnes 4), Watauga 33 (E. Pineda 8). Turnovers—Alexander 27, Watauga 28. Total fouls—Alexander 11, Watauga 7. Fouled out—None. Technical fouls—None.