UNDEFEATED
by Steve Behr Sports Editor
Watauga's boys jayvee basketball team beat St. Stephens the way they beat most teams. They started somewhat slowly, then built momentum until they could not be caught.
The result was the final victory of an undefeated season.
Watauga made it a perfect 22-0 with a 45-25 victory over the Indians at Lentz-Eggers Gym Friday night. The Pioneers won the Northwestern Conference with a 12-0 record.
The Pioneers had just one junior, center Jonathan Plyler. Watauga also had eight sophomores and four freshmen on the roster. One of the freshmen, center Matt Lambert, played on the Parkway team that went 17-0 last year and won the middle school regular-season and tournament championships.
“Maybe I'm a good-luck charm,” Lambert joked. “It's all a team effort. We have a lot of sophomores and Jonathan's a junior, which was big. It gave us another big man and he played excellent this year.”
Pioneers coach Jerry Moretz was often able to sit back and direct a team that often built insurmountable leads by halftime.
“It was a lot of fun,” Pioneers coach Jerry Moretz said. “I hate it's over, but it was a good ride and well deserved by the guys.”
Watauga's defense smothered St. Stephens in the second quarter after the Pioneers held a slim 10-9 lead after the first. Watauga outscored the Indians 12-4 in the second quarter and 10-3 in the third to pull away for the victory.
“We came out tonight and they really wanted to play well,” Moretz said. “They knew a lot of their friends and a lot of their relatives were going to be here who had never seen them play. So I think we came out a little too emotional and played tight.”
Moretz's advice was just to relax and play like they had done so in the first 21 games they played. It's a streak that includes two victories over every NWC foe and an Ashe County tournament victory.
“In the middle of the second quarter I just called out ‘Just play basketball,'” Moretz said. “'Just enjoy it and play basketball.' When we finally did, we went on a big run and put the game away.”
The game, which has seven-minute quarters, used a running clock for the first five minutes of each quarter. The change was used because of anticipated snowy weather Friday night.
Watauga got 10 points from Jay Harrill and nine from Lambert, who converted a 3-point basket.
Cameron Baker added eight points and point guard Eli Gailes scored seven. Jake Chasteen scored six.
Marcus Conner led St. Stephens with seven points.
Moretz said the coaching staff really didn't know quite what to expect from the team. Baker was a transfer from Central Davidson who chose to learn the Watauga system with the jayvees. He played cornerback on the varsity football team.
T.J. Poulos also played football, while Chasteen and Gailes both played on Watauga's soccer team.
“Going in, the coaches and I really didn't know what to expect,” Moretz said. “By the time we got all the football guys and the guys who didn't make the varsity, we only had a couple of days to get ready. We didn't know, but we kind of knew when we saw them play in a game and saw how they handled the pressure that they could be something special.”
Watauga boys JVs 45, St. Stephens 25
St. Stephens
Payne 3 0-0 6, Richardson 1 0-1 2, Thomas 0 1-2 1, McGill 1 0-2 2, Linney 1 0-0 3, Moss 2 0-1 4, Jennings 0 0-2 0, Conner 3 1-2 7, Clark 0 0-0 0, Sigman 0 0-0 0, Lynch 0 0-0 0, James 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 2-10 25.
watauga (22-0, 12-0)
Chasteen 1 4-6 6, Gailes 3 0-0 7, Harrill 4 0-0 10, Baker 4 0-0 8, Lambert 4 0-0 9, Plyler 0 4-4 4, Illich 0 0-0 0, Eggers 0 0-0 0, Speir 0 0-0 0, Rice 0 0-0 0, Poulos 0 0-0 0, Padgett 0 0-0 0 Tyndall 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 8-10 45.
St. Stephens 9 4 3 9 — 25
Watauga 10 12 10 13 — 45
3-point goals—St. Stephens 1 (Linney), Watauga 3 (Gailes, Harrill, Lambert). Rebounds—St. Stephens 22 (Moss 4), Watauga 27 (Baker 8). Turnovers—St. Stephens 16, Watauga 17. Total fouls—St. Stephens 13, Watauga 13. Fouled out—None. Technical fouls—None.
The result was the final victory of an undefeated season.
Watauga made it a perfect 22-0 with a 45-25 victory over the Indians at Lentz-Eggers Gym Friday night. The Pioneers won the Northwestern Conference with a 12-0 record.
The Pioneers had just one junior, center Jonathan Plyler. Watauga also had eight sophomores and four freshmen on the roster. One of the freshmen, center Matt Lambert, played on the Parkway team that went 17-0 last year and won the middle school regular-season and tournament championships.
“Maybe I'm a good-luck charm,” Lambert joked. “It's all a team effort. We have a lot of sophomores and Jonathan's a junior, which was big. It gave us another big man and he played excellent this year.”
Pioneers coach Jerry Moretz was often able to sit back and direct a team that often built insurmountable leads by halftime.
“It was a lot of fun,” Pioneers coach Jerry Moretz said. “I hate it's over, but it was a good ride and well deserved by the guys.”
Watauga's defense smothered St. Stephens in the second quarter after the Pioneers held a slim 10-9 lead after the first. Watauga outscored the Indians 12-4 in the second quarter and 10-3 in the third to pull away for the victory.
“We came out tonight and they really wanted to play well,” Moretz said. “They knew a lot of their friends and a lot of their relatives were going to be here who had never seen them play. So I think we came out a little too emotional and played tight.”
Moretz's advice was just to relax and play like they had done so in the first 21 games they played. It's a streak that includes two victories over every NWC foe and an Ashe County tournament victory.
“In the middle of the second quarter I just called out ‘Just play basketball,'” Moretz said. “'Just enjoy it and play basketball.' When we finally did, we went on a big run and put the game away.”
The game, which has seven-minute quarters, used a running clock for the first five minutes of each quarter. The change was used because of anticipated snowy weather Friday night.
Watauga got 10 points from Jay Harrill and nine from Lambert, who converted a 3-point basket.
Cameron Baker added eight points and point guard Eli Gailes scored seven. Jake Chasteen scored six.
Marcus Conner led St. Stephens with seven points.
Moretz said the coaching staff really didn't know quite what to expect from the team. Baker was a transfer from Central Davidson who chose to learn the Watauga system with the jayvees. He played cornerback on the varsity football team.
T.J. Poulos also played football, while Chasteen and Gailes both played on Watauga's soccer team.
“Going in, the coaches and I really didn't know what to expect,” Moretz said. “By the time we got all the football guys and the guys who didn't make the varsity, we only had a couple of days to get ready. We didn't know, but we kind of knew when we saw them play in a game and saw how they handled the pressure that they could be something special.”
Watauga boys JVs 45, St. Stephens 25
St. Stephens
Payne 3 0-0 6, Richardson 1 0-1 2, Thomas 0 1-2 1, McGill 1 0-2 2, Linney 1 0-0 3, Moss 2 0-1 4, Jennings 0 0-2 0, Conner 3 1-2 7, Clark 0 0-0 0, Sigman 0 0-0 0, Lynch 0 0-0 0, James 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 2-10 25.
watauga (22-0, 12-0)
Chasteen 1 4-6 6, Gailes 3 0-0 7, Harrill 4 0-0 10, Baker 4 0-0 8, Lambert 4 0-0 9, Plyler 0 4-4 4, Illich 0 0-0 0, Eggers 0 0-0 0, Speir 0 0-0 0, Rice 0 0-0 0, Poulos 0 0-0 0, Padgett 0 0-0 0 Tyndall 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 8-10 45.
St. Stephens 9 4 3 9 — 25
Watauga 10 12 10 13 — 45
3-point goals—St. Stephens 1 (Linney), Watauga 3 (Gailes, Harrill, Lambert). Rebounds—St. Stephens 22 (Moss 4), Watauga 27 (Baker 8). Turnovers—St. Stephens 16, Watauga 17. Total fouls—St. Stephens 13, Watauga 13. Fouled out—None. Technical fouls—None.