Watauga's seniors did not allow the Pioneers to fall in the first round of the Northwestern Conference Tournament at Lentz-Eggers Gym — even when the Pioneers fell behind South Caldwell by halftime.

Jake Pifer scored 23 points — 18 in the second half, and Matt Proffitt added 17 points and 12 rebounds in Watauga's 69-62 victory over the visiting Spartans. Watauga takes on Hickory tonight in the semifinals of the tournament beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Watauga outscored South Caldwell 23-7 in a third quarter that was capped by a 13-3 run. The Pioneers, sparked by additions from the junior varsity team that finished the season 22-0, led 48-40 going into the fourth quarter.

Watauga (10-13) eventually built its lead to 13 points in the final quarter before the Spartans (10-14) closed the lead to six points with just 43 seconds left.

It was a much different result for Watauga than when the teams played in Sawmills on Feb. 3 when the Spartans ran away with a 72-55 victory. Pifer and Proffitt, who were both the Pioneers' leading scorers that game, were both held to 10 points.

It was a different story Monday night. Pifer closed out the game with the second of his two dunks to put an exclamation point on the victory.

Allan Koppenhaver added 11 points to the Watauga win. Point guard Ethan Poulos scored just four points, but dished out 10 assists.

South Caldwell got 24 points from Jordan Propst and 12 points from Connor Drum.

The Pioneers turn their attention to powerful Hickory, which is the top-seeded team in the tournament and ranked sixth in 3-A basketball by http://ncpreps.com . The Red Tornadoes go into the tournament with a 21-3 record, but had to settle for a tie with Alexander Central for the NWC regular-season championship. Both teams finished 11-1 in conference play, and handed each other a loss.

Hickory was named the No. 1 seed because of its non-conference win over Alexander Central during a holiday tournament. The Red Tornadoes beat Watauga 61-48 at Lentz-Eggers Gym on Jan. 25 and hammered the Pioneers 67-36 on Dec. 16 in Hickory.

In the first game, Hickory took a 20-2 lead by the end of the first quarter and led 39-10 by halftime.

 

Watauga 69, South Caldwell 62

South Caldwell (10-14)

Wingate 5, Hodge 2, Redding 6, Evans 4, Probst 24, Drum 12, Mask 9.

Watauga (10-13)

Pifer 23, Poulos 4, Proffitt 17, Howser 4, Je. Chasteen 2, Koppenhaver 11, Sturgill 2, Baker 4, Ja. Chasteen 2.

South Caldwell            17 16 7 22 — 62

Watauga          15 10 23 21 — 69