Game Report on Southwest Guilford-Watauga Boys Basketball:SWG Cowboys rough riders as they take down Pioneers with Langleys, Joel Pettiford and Christian Martin going “full saddle/full bridle” tonight

The Cowboys hosted the Pioneers of Watauga High School in the opening round of the NCHSAA 3A State playoffs The Pioneers are out of Boone and finished 4th in the Northwestern 3A/4A Conference.

The Cowboys were looking to keep their perfect season rolling.

The Cowboys seemed to have a few butterflies out of the gate as they had 2 quick turnovers right off the bat and then a missed field goal. Finally another defensive stop led to a break and the Cowboys got on the board 2-0 at the 6:53 point. The Pioneers methodically tried to slow the game down but another stop and bad shot led to another transition basket for Southwest made it 4-0 at the 5:57 mark. Watauga got on the board with a three pointer to cut it to 4-3 at the 5:35 point. The teams traded baskets putting us at 6-5 at the 4:05 mark. The Cowboys got a three pointer, but the Pioneers got a basket to keep it close at 9-7. A quick 7-0 run pushed the lead to 16-7 with 1:03 to play. The Pioneers got their last points of the frame to cut to 16-9 with 53 seconds to go. Another quick 4-0 spurt to close the frame put the game at 20-9.

Southwest committed to the defensive end and upping the tempo. Pressure and speed allowed the Cowboys to really put the pedal to the metal.The frame opened with a 13-0 run to put the game at 33-9 with 5:21 to go in the half. After trading baskets for a couple of possessions each it was 35-14 midway through the frame. From there the Southwest bench started flexing some depth. Yet another run, this time 14-2, pushed the Cowboys further out in front at 49-16 with 1:02 to play. A three point play the old fashion way by the Pioneers cut it to 49-19 with just 19 seconds to go. That was just enough time for Southwest to score 4 more points to take us into halftime with the score 53-19.

Back to back three pointers by the Cowboys got the clock running at 59-19 at the 7:12 mark. Southwest’s swarming defense caused havoc for the visitors as they struggled to even get shot attempts. Watauga’s Ben Ricker made a free throw with 1:20 to go in the frame for their only point. Southwest held a strong 72-20 lead at the end of the third frame.

Once again the Southwest bench played significant minutes and closed the game out solidly and the Cowboys cruise into the second round with an 87-30 first round win.

The Pioneers were led by Blane St Clair with 10 points. Southwest once again had a solid team effort. Some highlights were: Kobe Langley with (18, 6 Asts, 6 Rebs), Keshaun Langley with (14, 5 Asts, 3 Rebs, Stl), Joel Pettiford with (13, 6 Rebs), and Christian Martin with (10, 7 Stls, 5 Rebs, 4 Asts). With the win the Cowboys have reached a perfect record of 27-0 for the second time since 2013-14 as well as the 3rd time in 7 years reaching 27 wins. The Cowboys will host the second round game on Thursday night.

            1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Watauga     09  10  01  10  30
Southwest   20  33  19  15  87

Watauga (13-13)
Anderson Castle 4
Jaiden Bond 9
Jackson Greene 1
Ben Ricker 1
Grant Oliver 3
Blane St. Clair 10
Luke Robbins 2

Southwest (27-0)
Keyshaun Langley 14, 5 Asts, 3 Rebs, Stl
Kobe Langley 18, 6 Asts, 6 Rebs
Milli Huggins 5, 2 Rebs, Stl, Ast
Cameron Thompson 4 Asts, 2 Stls, Reb
Jayden Turner 6, 5 Rebs, 2 Stls
Christian Martin 10, 7 Stls, 5 Rebs, 4 Asts
Bryce Causey 2, Ast, Blk, Reb, Stl
Joel Pettiford 13, 6 Rebs
Aamaj Platt 4, 4 Rebs, Ast
Jeremy Mull 4, Ast
Miles Taylor 6, 2 Rebs
Rodney Scott Reb
Caleb Theriault Ast

Courtesy of Greg Vlazny, SWG assistant coach