Two dominant guards in Jayon Connor and Cade Keller are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Alexander Central Cougars will square off against the Watauga Pioneers at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
On Friday, 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.
Connor was his usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 28 points and 12 rebounds. That makes it ten consecutive games in which he has scored at least a third of Alexander Central's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaheim Redmond, who posted six points and three steals.
Meanwhile, Watauga came tearing into Friday's matchup with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 21.3 points) and they left with even more momentum. They strolled past the Spartans with points to spare, taking the game 80-61. 80 seems to be a good number for the Pioneers as the squad scooped up a victory with the same number of points in their previous game.
Alexander Central better focus on containing Keller and Josiah Railey as the pair were huge in Watauga's win. Keller went 7 for 14 on his way to 29 points along with five assists and three steals, while Railey went 7 of 11 en route to 19 points and eight boards. That's the most points Keller has posted since back in December of 2024. Another player making a difference was Jace Blocker, who scored 11 points.
Watauga's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 13-6. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 80.3 points per game. As for Alexander Central, they now have a winning record of 10-9.
Alexander Central came out on top in a nail-biter against Watauga when the teams last played back in January, sneaking past 68-65. The rematch might be a little tougher for Alexander Central since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
