E. Burke Cavs storm

Watauga's home defenses
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

The team that ran Watauga’s offense the best Friday night turned out to be East Burke.

The Cavaliers were very comfortable running with Watauga and claimed a 97-83 victory at Lentz-Eggers Gym. East Burke took advantage of Watauga’s cold shooting by running a fast break that often led to layups, particularly in the first half.

“We had really hoped that we had learned from the McDowell game (an 85-70 Watauga loss) that if the outside shot is not falling, you’ve got to attack the basket some. We couldn’t get anything to fall from the outside. Part of the problem was that while one guy was shooting, the other four were watching and if you’re not going to crash the boards, then obviously you’re giving up a defensive board and a quick outlet the other way. They were beating us at our own game in the first half.”

East Burke (19-4, 9-2) took a 17-4 lead in the first quarter and never let that lead fall under 10 points until late in the fourth quarter, when Watauga (9-13, 4-7) climbed to within 85-78. But the Cavaliers, who are still battling for a Northwestern 4-A Conference championship, reacted with a 6-0 run — all foul shots — and buried the Pioneers for good.

Watauga’s shooting was a sharp contrast to its 102-89 victory over A.C. Reynolds last Tuesday when the Pioneers nailed a school record 17 3-point shots. Watauga had two players score at least 25 points in that game, but that would not be the case against East Burke.

Instead, Will Watson and Chad Eppley finished with 17 points each. Zach Greene added 15 points and David Isaacs had 12.

East Burke center Cody Shuffer benefitted from a lot of Watauga’s defensive breakdowns and finished with 25 points. Shuffer made 12 shots from the field, most of them being layups after the Cavaliers had either broken Watauga’s full-court pressure or after a long rebound had led to a fast break, even though East Burke committed 31 turnovers.

“It wasn’t so much poor shooting as it was our poor defense,” Sanders said. “You can’t play this style and not get stops. You can’t play this style and give up 80 or 90 points a game.”
Shuffer was not the only Cavalier to score in double figures. Patrick Smith scored 19 points, hitting 11-of-12 from the foul line, before fouling out during a physical fourth quarter. B.J. Boughman scored 17 points and Dustin Beck added 14 points for the Cavaliers.

East Burke took advantage of a physical game by hitting 28-of-36 free throws. The Cavaliers were particularly tough during the fourth quarter when the converted 19-of-22 attempts, including their final eight of the game.

Watauga also found some success on the foul line by hitting 19-of-28 attempts. Eppley hit 9-of-11 from the line.

“You can’t take anything away from East Burke,” Sanders said. “They ran with us and they finished better than we did. They got around the rim and scored and we dug ourselves too big a hole to get out of.”

East Burke 97, Watauga 83

East Burke (19-4, 9-2)
Rhoney 4 2-2 10, Smith 4 11-12 19, Beck 5 4-4 14, Hildebrand 1 2-2 4, Frogge 2 1-2 4, Boughman 5 7-8 17, Brittain 0 0-2 0, Suffer 12 1-4 25, Pearson 0 0-0 0, Cranford 0 0-0 0, Williams 0 0-0 0. Totals 34 28-36 97.
Watauga (9-13, 4-7)
Steury 2 1-2 5, Watson 8 1-2 17, Greene 6 0-0 15, Isaacs 3 5-10 12, Chiarolanzio 1 0-0 2, Newell 1 2-2 4, Eppley 4 9-11 17, Herndon 1 1-1 3, Dale 4 0-0 8, Fancher 0 0-0, Moyer 0 0-0 0.
East Burke 23 25 18 31 — 97
Watauga 11 17 27 28 — 83
3-point goals—East Burke 1 (Frogge), Watauga 4 (Greene 3, Isaacs). Turnovers—East Burke 31, Watauga 20. Total fouls—East Burke 21, Watauga 26. Fouled out—Smith. Technical fouls—None.