Spartans fall

before Pioneer

onslaught

By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

When Watauga boys’ basketball coach Rob Sanders decided to switch to a fast-paced, running offense, what he saw Friday night was exactly what he had in mind.

The Pioneers ran past, over and all around South Caldwell in their 96-63 pasting of the Spartans at Lentz-Eggers Gym. Sanders implemented the fast-paced offense in an effort to get his team to be more aggressive on that side of the court.

It was an instant success. Watauga (8-10, 3-4 NWC) claimed a 10-0 lead three minutes into the game and took a 24-10 advantage after one period. The Pioneers led 52-36 at halftime and had Sanders instructed David Isaacs to hold the ball the final 40 seconds of the game, they could have broken the 100-point barrier.

Watauga outscored the Spartans 25-8 in the third quarter, and took its largest lead of 27 points (83-46) early in the fourth.

“We thought going into the game that there were two major keys,” Sanders said. “One is that we were going to have to play defense without fouling. And secondly, you have to crash the boards. We had to get two or three opportunities with every possession we had.”

It never hurts to take care of the basketball. The Pioneers forced 27 South Caldwell turnovers, while giving the ball up just 10 times.

Watauga also had six players score in double figures, led by Will Watson’s 16 points. Zach Greene scored 14 points, Jeff Newell had 13, Chad Eppley 12, Ian Dale 11 and Alan Herndon 10. Watauga scored eight points directly off stickbacks, including two early in the first quarter.

The Pioneers hit 37-of-81 shots from the field, including six 3-pointers. Had they shot better than 16-of-29 from the free throw line, they would have shattered the 100-point barrier. South Caldwell was whistled for 21 fouls, compared to 15 on the Pioneers.

“It’s amazing,” Sanders said. “(Assistant) Coach (Jerry Moretz) and I were noticing that in practice, we would normally have problems off the charts in the turnover area. We had one or none during our entire (recent) practice. It’s odd that we kicked it into another gear and took off the leashes and we cut our turnovers in half.”

The Pioneers were able to avoid fatigue and foul trouble by substituting in platoons. One group would play four actual minutes of basketball, and then give way to the next group, which would do the same.
No Watauga player fouled out and all scored at least one point.

“I don’t think we’ve ever gone into the fourth quarter with just two team fouls,” Sanders said. “The guys really bought into it. They enjoy playing this way. They have room to make errors. They don’t have to worry about a turnover here or there or a bad shot here or there. They all know that they’re going to play and they were more excited (Friday) night than they’ve ever been to play a game.”

South Caldwell got 25 points from center Landon Shook, who hit most of his 11 shots from the field from layup range on the left side of the basket. Jacob Lail added 12 points for the Spartans, who have lost five straight.

Watauga plays the toughest part of its schedule this week. They play at Freedom Tuesday and at McDowell next Friday.

Freedom and McDowell are tied for first place in the NWC and both are road games for Watauga.

“That’s why tonight I thought it was a great time to do it,” Sanders said. “You can’t say how important it was for us to get a win and a big win, simply for our mentality. They enjoy playing this way. They did a great job of it in practice, but you have to do it in a game setting as well.”

Watauga 96, South Caldwell 63
South Caldwell
Judd 1 0-0 2, Byland 1 -0 2, Boles 0 0-1 0, Watts 1 0-0 2, Lail 6 0-0 12, Collins 3 2-2 8, Whitside 2 1-1 6, Davis 2 0-0 4, Baker 1 0-0 2, Shook 11 3-6 25. Totals 28 6-13 63.
Watauga (8-10, 3-4)
Fancher 0 1-2 1, Steury 1 5-6 7, Watson 8 0-0 16, Greene 5 2-2 14, Moyer 0 3-6 3, Isaacs 0 2-2 4, Chiarolanzio 2 1-3 5, Newell 5 2-5 13, Eppley 5 0-1 12, Herndon 5 0-2 10, Dale 5 0-0 11. Totals 37 16-29 96.
South Caldwell 10 26 8 19 — 63
Watauga 24 28 25 19 — 96
3-point goals—South Caldwell 1 (Whiteside), Watauga 6 (Greene 2, Eppley 2, Newell, Dale). Turnovers—South Caldwell 27, Watauga 10. Total fouls—South Caldwell 21, Watauga 15. Fouled out—Lail. Technical fouls—Collins, South Caldwell bench.