Pioneers take

second game

from Avery
By Steve Behr

Watauga’s first victory over Avery was relatively easy. The Pioneers took a big first-quarter lead and really never looked back.

Game two took a bit longer to secure, but the end result was the same. Watauga built a big lead in the first half and cruised to an 81-59 victory over the Vikings at Lentz-Eggers Gym Wednesday night.

As in the first game, Avery struggled with Watauga’s 6-foot-6 center Jeff Newell, who finished with 21 points. Newell had three dunks and 24 points in the first meeting, a 90-59 win Monday in Newland.

He didn’t get any dunks against Avery on Wednesday, but he didn’t need any. Once he got the ball close to the basket, he was usually able to put it through.

“I just realized I should be able to take it to the hole because of my height advantage,” Newell said. “I was kind of upset about the Ashe game and how it ended and I used that as motivation so that would not happen again.”

Watauga got plenty of contributions from several sources. Murphy Fancher scored the first two baskets of the game and eventually finished with 12 points, while Josh Coffey added nine points. Jake Wallace had eight points and Cam Steury finished with seven.

Watauga got some help by going to the foul line 25 times, making 18 of them. Avery was limited to 8-of-11 shooting from the line. Sanders said the Pioneers talked about starting strong and about overconfidence brought on by a relatively easy win Monday night.

“We told them that ‘Yeah, it was a big win, but how did we do it?’ We did it with our defense and getting easy basket after easy basket in transition. Tonight, it was like we were thinking there was a 30-point shot out there that’s going to happen in the first quarter and the game would be over.”

Watauga never trailed, but did not build its lead with a 16-0 run like it did Monday night. Instead, the Pioneers led 12-9 before closing out the quarter with a 6-2 run, taking an 18-11 lead.

It was 25-18 in the second quarter when the Pioneers started to pull away. Watauga outscored the Vikings 10-4 in the final 3:49 to claim a 37-22 halftime lead. The Pioneers outscored Avery 23-15 in the third quarter to take a 60-37 lead the Vikings never threatened.

“We had some guys who attacked the basket and took the game to them,” Sanders said. “Murphy Fancher did an excellent job in using his speed and athleticism and go to the rim. That will open up his outside shot more when they know he’s a threat to go to the basket.”

Avery got 16 points, 12 off 3-point baskets, from Dustin Clark. Joey Porter added 14 points and Luke Pittman had seven.

The Pioneers start their Northwestern 4-A Conference season Friday night at home against South Caldwell.

“For whatever reason it is, maybe it’s the rivalry, I don’t know. It doesn’t seem to matter what type of record they have or what kind of season they’re having, they show up to play us,” Sanders said of the Spartans. “It’s always a tough battle. We’ve got to come out and take the game to them and not be back on our heels, or we’re going to find ourselves in a hole we can’t get out.”

Watauga 81, Avery 59
Avery
Smith 1 0-0 2, Hughes 1 4-4 6, Pittman 3 1-2 7, Clark 6 0-0 16, Ward 2 0-1 4, Porter 6 2-2 14, Blackburn 2 1-2 5, McKinney 1 0-0 3, Turbyfill 1 0-0 2, Jennings 0 0-0 0, Bennett 0 0-0 0, Dellinger 0 0-0 0, Watson 0 0-0 0, Gossett 0 0-0 0. T otals 15 8-11 59.
Watauga
Fancher 6 0-0 12, Steury 2 3-3 7, Coffey 4 1-2 9, Quinn 1 0-0 2, Newell 8 5-8 21, Courtney 1 2-2 4, Wallace 2 0-0 4, Martin 2 0-0 4, Edwards 1 3-4 5, Koppenhaver 1 2-2 4, Calhoun 2 0-2 5, Pogoloff 0 0-0 0. Totals 31 18-25 81.
Avery 11 11 15 22 — 57
Watauga 18 19 23 21 — 81
3-point goals—Avery 5 (Clark 4, McKinney), Watauga 1 (Calhoun). Rebounds—Avery 27 (Pittman 6), Watauga 38 (Newell 9). Turnovers—Avery 17, Watauga 14. Total fouls—Avery 18, Watauga 13. Fouled out—None.