Watauga makes

it four straight
By Steve Behr
 
Watauga’s inside duo of Nicole Tesh and Katherine Mayhew proved, for the second time in two days, to be too much for Avery to handle.

Tesh scored a game-high 17 points and Mayhew added 15 in the Pioneers’ 64-56 victory Wednes-day night at Lentz-Eggers Gym. Just two days earlier, the two combined for 34 points in another Watauga victory.

The Pioneers go into their Northwestern 4-A Conference season with a two-game winning streak. They host South Caldwell Friday night around 6:30 p.m.

Watauga was able to finish strong after trailing for most of the game. Trailing 52-51, Watauga outscored the Vikings 13-4 in the final 3:07 to claim the victory.

The Pioneers helped themsevles by making 8-of-10 from the free throw line in the ifnal 3:00. Christina Rees also buried a 3-point bucket with 2:23 left, giving Watauga a 55-52 lead.

The Pioneers got off to a decent start by taking a 10-4 lead, but Avery stormed back and led 21-14 at the end of the first quarter. Neither team did much in the second quarter as the Vikings maintained a 28-20 halftime advantage, but Watauga made its move in the third quarter. trailing 30-20, the Pioneers went on a 15-7 run and pulled to within 37-35 after Tesh made the first of two foul shots with 3:51 left in the third.

Avery took a 44-43 lead into the fourth quarter, but Watauga took the lead for the first time since the first quarter when Mayhew stole the ball, got it to Chandler Butler, who got it to Tesh for a layup and a 45-44 lead.

Butler, who went 6-for-6 from the foul line, and Rees each added eight points for the Pioneers. Sarah Miller chipped in seven more.

The game had a scary moment late when Avery’s Allison Vance and Katie Ellis collided while trying to knock away a pass defensively with 40 seconds left in the game. Both players left the court under their own power, but did not return.

Vance led the Vikings in scoring with 14 points, dropping in eight of her nine free throws. Katelyn Eudy added 13 points and Samantha Shook scored 11. Ellis scored nine points and had a game-high 11 rebounds.

Watauga 64, Avery 56
Avery
Avery 1 3-6 5, Vance 3-8-9 14, Shook 4 0-0 11, Ellis 4 1-2 9, Eudy 6 1-2 13, Wiseman 2 0-0 4, Tennett 0 0-2 0, Singleton 0 0-0 0, Perry 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 13-21 56.
Watauga
Butler 1 6-6 8, Woods 1 0-0 2, Gilliam 0 1-3 1, Tesh 8 1-4 17, Jones 1 2-2 4, Alford 1 0-0 2, Mayhew 6 3-6 15, Miller 3 1-3 7, Rees 3 1-2 8, Corbin 0 0-2 0, Wright 0 0-0 0, Dunnigan 0 0-0 0, McKinney 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 15-28 69.
Avery 21 7 16 12 — 56
Watauga 14 6 23 21 — 64
3-point goals—Avery 3 (Shook 3), Watauga 1 (Rees). Rebounds—Avery 36 (Ellis 11); Watauga 35 (Mayhew 6). Turnovers—Avery 21, Watauga 22. Total fouls—Avery 19, Watauga 18. Fouled out—None.