Basketball Recap: Mountain Heritage Takes Loss Despite Strong Performances from Layla Worley and Maggie Neill + How To Watch

Cougars

Previous 5 Games

12/20/25 vs Watauga	67-72
12/19/25 vs Polk County	46-48
12/17/25 vs Erwin	62-29
12/12/25 @ Asheville	49-46
12/04/25 @ Erwin	38-36

Mountain Heritage fought the good fight in their overtime contest against Watauga on Saturday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They took a 72-67 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Pioneers. Even though they lost, the Cougars' still made a splash on offense and bumped their average scoring up to 52.1 points per game (they're now ranked -1th in scoring overall).

Mountain Heritage's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Maggie Neill, who dropped a double-double with 20 points and 13 boards, and Layla Worley, who posted 24 points and seven rebounds. Worley is also crushing it when it comes to steals: she's grabbed at least two every time she's taken the court this season. Kyla Phillips also deserves some recognition as she posted her first assist of the season.

This is the second loss in a row for Mountain Heritage and nudges their season record down to 5-2. Those defeats can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 56.5 points over those games. As for Watauga, their victory bumped their record up to 4-6.

Mountain Heritage will take on A.C. Reynolds in a holiday battle at 11:30 a.m. on Monday. As for Watauga, they will be home for the holidays to greet West Caldwell at 5:45 p.m. on Monday.