Basketball Game Preview: South Caldwell Spartans vs. Watauga Pioneers

The South Caldwell Spartans will square off against the Watauga Pioneers at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday.

South Caldwell is headed into Thursday's matchup hungry for a win as their strong season has now been derailed by two straight defeats. They received a blow on Friday as they fell 68-51 to McDowell. The contest marked the Spartans' lowest-scoring game so far this season.

Meanwhile, Watauga earned a 70-60 win over A.C. Reynolds on Thursday. Given the Pioneers' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 105th, while the Rockets are ranked 217th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Watauga's win came from a few key players South Caldwell will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Josiah Railey, who went 9 of 15 on his way to 22 points and eight rebounds. His evening made it four games in a row in which he has scored at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Maddox Greene, who posted 12 points in addition to eight steals and five boards.

Watauga is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 76.3 points per game. As for South Caldwell, their loss dropped their record down to 9-4.

South Caldwell came out on top in a nail-biter against Watauga in their previous matchup back in February of 2024, sneaking past 64-62. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Railey, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 12 boards. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will South Caldwell still be able to contain Railey? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.