BOONE, N.C. — It was Senior Night, and Kate Sears had moments that basketball fans around the state have come to expect.

The future Virginia Tech point guard is not the tallest person on the court, but she claims rebounds. She starts her own fast breaks from the opposite end of the court. Half of the time the lefty whips no-look passes. The other times she gets to her spots and scores. There’s a reason she has 10 triple-doubles this year — her season averages are now 26.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, 9.2 assists, and 2.4 steals per game.

But the spectacular plays tell only part of the story.

With the contest already decided, the other part came alive.

Gracie Lawrence was the only senior who had not scored on the night for Watauga — she had missed the entire season to date and sat on the bench with a bulky knee brace. With a few minutes left, Sears stayed in the game with one mission in mind: set up Gracie to score.

At a time when top girls basketball players in North Carolina tend to leave their hometown schools to find other players of a similiar caliber, Sears has stayed a true teammate until the end.

“Kate Sears is the best kind of best player,” coach Bill Torgerson said. “She’s not crushing her teammates and running them down every day… Today she was really consumed with ‘how do I get Gracie Lawrence a shot?’.”

Sears, who grew up in High Country, has more than 2,400 points, 900 rebounds, and 650 assists in her career. She keyed the Pioneers’ run to the 4A West regional final last season.

She’s never entertained getting away from her roots.

“It’s been super special and really fun to play for Watauga and just play with this group of girls and especially this group of seniors who I’ve played with since about third grade,” Sears said. “I wanted to play with the people who have been through everything with me throughout my basketball journey.”

“Growing up here and living here my whole life has made it more special,” she added. “Just knowing that I wanted to be here for four years and wanted to do things at Watauga that no one had ever done and as a team and a group of seniors, we wanted to do things no one had ever done as well.”

According to Torgerson, the little things Sears brings to the program are there each and every practice.

Sears said it hasn’t been the easiest transition to become a vocal leader this year, but Torgerson said it’s added to the Pioneers’ practices. Sears is now the loudest in the gym, making practices fun and instructing teammates on how to complete drills when it’s not yet their turn.

Each practice has 30 minutes afterward where Sears stays late and gets up shots.

“There’s never a day where she’s not going as hard as she can,” Torgerson said. “You can coach really talented players who aren’t like that.”

North Carolina is no stranger to dominant players, but Sears’ separation was clear in those final minutes of a 72-33 rout of rival Ashe County.

Sears drew the defense to her and rifled a pass to Lawrence open in the short corner. Lawrence had her first points of the year, and the Pioneer bench reveled in the moment. A few possessions later, for good measure, Sears did it again, finding Lawrence on the low block for a layup.

Senior Night was complete with all seniors scoring.

The full story of what sets Sears apart was also complete. It’s not often the best player is also a best teammate.

“I know that I’m obviously really competitive and I’m a perfectionist so I want to do everything right all the time but I know that’s not how it is and how to boost my teammates,” Sears said. “I see how hard they all work in practice all day and I know they want to go out there and do it great and being down on them is not going to help anything. I just try to lift them up as a leader of the team and just know that if they make a mistake, the next time is going to be better and just try to get that in their mind and get them to know that I’m there and I’ve got their back.”