Basketball Game Preview: Watauga Pioneers vs. Alexander Central Cougars

Two dominant guards in Cade Keller and Jayon Connor are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Watauga Pioneers will be playing in front of their home fans against the Alexander Central Cougars at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Watauga knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past 19 games -- so hopefully Alexander Central likes a good challenge.

If Watauga beats Alexander Central with 80 points on Tuesday, it's going to be the squad's new lucky number: they've won their past two matches with that exact score. Watauga strolled past South Caldwell with points to spare on Friday, taking the game 80-61.

Watauga relied on the efforts of Keller, who went 7 for 14 en route to 29 points along with five assists and three steals, and Josiah Railey, who went 7 of 11 on his way to 19 points and eight rebounds. Railey's evening made it five games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jace Blocker, who posted 11 points.

Meanwhile, Alexander Central humbled Ashe County with a 59-29 victory. The Cougars pushed the score to 42-22 by the end of the third, a deficit the Huskies had little chance of recovering from.

Watauga better keep an eye on Connor. He was instrumental in Alexander Central's win, dropping a double-double on 28 points and 12 boards. That makes it ten consecutive games in which Connor has scored at least a third of Alexander Central's points. Another player making a difference was Jaheim Redmond, who earned six points and three steals.

Watauga is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 13-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 75.8 points per game. As for Alexander Central, they now have a winning record of 10-9.

Watauga couldn't quite finish off Alexander Central in their previous meeting back in January and fell 68-65. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Connor, who put up 39 points in addition to eight rebounds and three steals. Now that Watauga knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.