Kate Sears wins North Carolina high school Gatorade Player of the Year award

Sears, A Virginia Tech commit led Watauga High School to a 22-6 record and reached the fourth round of the NCHSAA 4A West Playoffs.

Arianna Grainey

Watauga High School 5'9 senior point guard and Virginia Tech signee Kate Sears wins the North Carolina Gatorade player of the year award for the 2024-2025 basketball season.

Sears, led the Lady Pioneers to a 22-6 record and reached the fourth round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) Class 4A West regional playoffs this season, before falling to state championship finalist Lake Norman.

Sears led the team in scoring (27.2 points), rebounds (13.1), and assists (9.3) per game this season for the Pioneers including recording 13 triple-doubles. Sears also shot 39.4 percent from the three-point line and 81 percent from the free throw line.

In a January 22 game against Freedom, Sears recorded 43 points, 21 rebounds, and 15 assists in a 83-63 win.

Sears was also named the Northwestern Conference Player of the Year in all four years of her high school playing career and was named to the All-State team in each of the last three seasons.

Sears will finish her high school career with 2,613 points which will put her 11th on the all-time scoring list in North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) history.

Earlier this month, Sears was named Ms. Basketball for the state of North Carolina for the 2024-2025 season. She became the first player from Watauga High School to take home the award and is just the third player from the Northwestern Conference joining Kerri Gardin (Freedom H.S. in 2002) and Natasha Davis (Freedom H.S. in 1995).

Sears becomes the fifth North Carolina girls basketball player to take home the prestigious award joining Sarah Strong who took home the award in consecutive seasons (Grace Christian School), Indya Nivar (Apex Friendship H.S.), and Saniya Rivers (Eugene Ashley H.S.)

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