Jr. Warriors, Raiders split games in Eighth Grade Night contests

Published 12:47 am Monday, January 13, 2020

By Nic Miller

BY NIC MILLER
STAR CORRESPONDENT
 
HAPPY VALLEY – As high school hoops around the region are in full swing, it is easy to forget about those playing at the middle school level.
Nevertheless, middle school basketball action around Carter County is flourishing just as much as at the high school level.
Two middle school teams around the area, the Sullivan North Jr. Raiders and the Happy Valley Jr. Warriors, continued their hardwood action Thursday night in both boys and girls contests.
It was Eighth Grade Night for Happy Valley which meant a time to honor the athletes who will be jumping up to the high school level in the next year.
The girls were the first to play and it was the Lady Warriors who were able to jump ahead early in a tight contest by taking a 16-9 lead over Sullivan North to end the first quarter.
The second period started out at a much more slow pace but late in the half Happy Valley was able to pick up the momentum on offense while holding the Lady Raiders to only one point to take a  30-10 lead going into the break.
Coming out of the halftime break, the Lady Warriors game plan was to hold on to the ball and run the clock down as much as possible to secure their victory.
This plan seemed to work to perfection as the Lady Warriors held on to the ball for a majority of the third quarter and allowed only eight points by their opponents from Sullivan North, keeping a 35-18 edge going into the final quarter.
It was more of the same for the home team in the fourth and the Jr. Lady Warriors were able to stroll to a 42-26 victory over the Lady Raiders.
The Lady Warriors were led by Marcida Thompson who had 16 points in the win followed closely by Lacey Byrd who finished with 14 points.
For the Lady Raiders in the loss, Arriyana Green led her team in points with 11 while Kylie Glover finished with five points of her own.
In between the two games, it was a special moment as the eighth-grade cheerleaders, girls’ basketball players, and boys basketball players were all recognized and presented with a rose.
After the recognition of the cheerleaders and players, it was time for the boys’ contest to get underway.
The Warriors offense came out on fire to start the game but the Raiders were able to keep up with them making it close in the first. After the first quarter, the Warriors were in front, 10-9.
The second quarter for both teams was less of a scoring contest and more of a battle of the defenses.
The lockdown defenses from both sides warranted an astonishing twelve total points going into the break with the Warriors on top 17-14.
The chess match continued in the third quarter as both teams were still trying to figure out ways to exploit their opponent.
Heading into the final quarter, it was the Warriors still on top by the slimmest of margins, 23-22.
In a game that had been very tightly contested for the first three quarters, the fourth quarter proved to be time for the Raiders to shine as they took their first lead of the game going up 31-27 on the Warriors with three minutes left to play.
And while the Warriors were able to come oh so close in the closing seconds, it was the visiting Raiders who would walk away victorious by a score of 39-35.
For the visiting Raiders, Chase Gill led his team in the scoring column with 14 while his teammate Branson Carswell was able to put up 11 points of his own.
On the other hand, Austin Nickles was able to score 11 points in the Warriors losing effort.

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