Nicole Tesh, Katherine

Mayhew combine

for 34 points
By Steve Behr

NEWLAND — Watauga’s girls’ basketball team needed its two tallest players, Katherine Mayhew and Nicole Tesh, to play big Monday night at Avery.

Both delivered in a big way. Tesh scored 11 of her game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter, and Mayhew hit all 10 of her foul shots to finish with 16 points in the Pioneers’ 69-59 victory over the Vikings.

Watauga’s jayvee team also beat Avery 65-51.

Tesh sparked a game-ending 9-4 run with a three-point play with 1:41 to help push the varsity Pioneers (5-3) to the win. Watauga, which went into the fourth quarter tied 46-46 with the Vikings, led 60-55 when Tesh was fouled while scoring on an offensive rebound.

Tesh added a team-high nine rebounds to her totals.

“Nicole is playing well,” Pioneers coach Klay Anderson said. “She’s keeping out of foul trouble. When your good players are on the floor, there is more chance for success.”

Mayhew hurt Avery during the first half, getting 10 of her points in the first 16 minutes. Mayhew also pulled down eight rebounds.

“We feel that we’ve got to chance to win when our production inside forces defenses to squeeze us, which opens up our guards for jumpshots,” Anderson said. “I’m proud of our guards for being unselfish.”

Watauga’s guards scored enough points to give the Pioneers some offensive balance. Christina Rees added eight points, and Ryann Jones finished with seven. All but two Pioneers ended up in the scoring column.

Avery got 17 points from guard Samantha Shook and 10 from Alison Vance.

Watauga seemed ready to put the game away early by taking a 38-29 halftime lead. But Watauga’s offense struggled in the third quarter after a Rees 3-pointer put them in front 43-32 with 5:25 left. Watauga got a shot blocked and then turned the ball over four straight times to allow the Vikings to pull to within 43-37.

Avery continued its comeback by taking a 46-44 lead on a Shook 3-pointer with 1:15 left in the third. Tori Wright tied the game with a basket with 30 seconds to go, and Jones scored four seconds into the fourth quarter to give Watauga a 48-46 advantage.

The Pioneers used that basket to go on a 10-4 run, taking a 56-50 lead with 5:33 left in the game. Avery never got closer than four points the rest of the game.

Avery, which has lost its last three games to Watauga, gets another chance at the Pioneers Wednesday night at Lentz-Eggers Gym.

“We’ve proven we can win on their floor,” Anderson said. “They’ll come in (Wednesday) knowing that we’ve beaten them three times, so they’ll be hungry.”

Watauga 69, Avery 59
Watauga (5-3)
Butler 1 2-4 4, Dunnigan 0 2-2 2, Woods 2 0-1 4, Wright 1 0-0 2, Tesh 7 4-5 18, Jones 3 0-1 7, Mayhew 3 10-10 16, Corbin 0 2-2 2, Miller 3 0-2 6, Rees 3 1-2 8, Gilliam 0 0-0 0, Alford 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 21-29 69.
Avery (3-2)
Avery 1 1-3 3, Singleton 1 0-2 2, Perry 2 0-1 4, Vance 4 1-2 10, Shook 7 1-2 17, Ellis 2 3-4 7, Tennant 1 1-2 3, Eudy 3 1-2 7, Wiseman 3 0-0 6. Totals 24 8-18 57.
Watauga 17 21 8 23 — 69
Avery 16 14 16 13 — 59
3-point goals—Watauga 2 (Jones, Rees), Avery 3 (Shook 2, Vance). Rebounds—Watauga 39 (Tesh 9), Avery 36 (Ellis 9). Turnovers—Watauga 26, Avery 21. Total fouls—Watauga 19, Avery 18. Fouled out—Vance, Ellis.