Watauga

pounds Vikings
By Steve Behr

NEWLAND — There was a time that Avery actually led Watauga by four points Monday night.

Then Watauga turned on its afterburners and left the Vikings in the dust. Once the visiting Pioneers took control of the game, they never let up and buried Avery 90-59.

Watauga’s jayvee team also beat Avery 50-41.

Avery actually took a 4-0 lead at the start of the game after converting two Watauga turnovers into a free throw and a 3-point basket.

But Wat-auga went on to score the next 16 points in a run capped by back-to-back dunks by 6-foot-6 Jeff Newell. Avery had no answer for Newell, who finished with 10 field goals and 24 points. Newell also had team high nine re-bounds.

“We came out and we knew that we wanted the first part of the first quarter to be huge for us,” Pioneers coach Rob Sanders said. “If we could come out and jump on them early and take away any confidence they had, we could seal the deal and put the game away and we did that.”

All but one Watauga player scored at least four points. The Pioneers’ next highest scorer with Caleb Courtney, who came off the bench to score 16 points. Starting point guard Baine Martin added eight points and both Jake Wallace and Josh Coffey added seven.

Dustin Clark scored 19 and Jared Wood added 16 for Avery. Clark connected on five 3-point shots.

“One of the things we talked about before the game, you take these two teams and put them on paper, we should win,” Sanders said. “At the same time, if you take Ashe and Watauga and look at them on paper, Ashe should win. You look at what we almost were able to pull off Friday night, just because we’re the better team on paper, if you don’t show up and take care of business that they can’t beat you.”

Watauga’s lead was never in any serious jeopardy. The Pioneers led 20-8 after the first quarter, and after the Vikings closed to 30-20, the Pioneers finished the second quarter with a 13-2 run by scoring on seven straight possessions to take a 43-22 lead into halftime.

And it could have been worse. Watauga hit just 21-of-34 shots from the foul line, compared to 11-of-17 for Avery. The Pioneers also made 34 shots from the field and held a 42-28 rebounding edge.

Watauga has little time to celebrate as the Pioneers host Avery Wednesday night.

Watauga 90, Avery 59
Watauga (3-5)
Fancher 2 0-0 4, Steury 1 2-4 4, Calhoun 3 0-0 6, Coffey 1 5-6 7, Newell 10-4-4 24, Courtney 6 4-6 16, Wallace e 3 1-2 7, Martin 3 2-4 8, Edwards 2 0-0 5, Koppenhaver 1-2 5, Pogoloff 1 2-6 4, Quinn 0 0-0 0. Totals 34 21-34 90.
Avery
Smith 1 0-0 2, Hughes 0 4-6 6, Clarke 7 0-0 19, Wood 6 3-4 16, Potter 1 2-2 4, Dillinger 1 0-0 2, McKinney 2 0-0 4, Jennings 2 0-0 4, Blackburn 0 0-0 0, Gossett 0 0-0 0, Watson 0 0-0 0, Turbyfill 0 0-0 0, Burnett 0 0-1 0. Totals 21 11-17 59.
Watauga 20 23 26 24 — 90
Avery 8 12 15 22 — 59
3-point goals—Watauga 1 (Edwards), Avery 6 (Clark 5, Wood). Rebounds—Watauga 42 (Newell 9), Avery 28 (Hughes 6). Turnovers—Watauga 16, Avery 25. Total fouls—Watauga 15, Avery 22. Fouled out—None.