Hardwood tourney action continues at Happy Valley Middle
Published 12:10 am Thursday, February 13, 2020
BY NIC MILLER
STAR CORRESPONDENT
Happy Valley – After an exciting array of games to start the seventh-grade basketball tournament at Happy Valley Middle School Monday night, several local teams were back Tuesday to continue the action.
Tuesday’s events featured three local contests – two boys games and one ladies matchup.
The first game was a boys contest between the Cloudland Highlanders and the Unicoi County Blue Devils.
It was a game filled with excellent scoring by both teams making it a back and forth contest between the two squads.
The game wouldn’t be fully decided until the last two minutes when the Blue Devils would finally pull away to take the win, 43-32.
For the Blue Devils, Keilet Rodriguez and Jace Garland led their team with 17 and 15 points respectively, while Cole English, Blaize Holt, and Zeke Campbell finished with six, three, and two points.
In the effort, Landon Hughes led the ‘Landers with 10 points, followed by Hayden Arnett with nine, while Devin Hamby and Nick Caraway scored six and five points. Kingston Cole contributing two points of his own.
The second game was another boys contest featuring the Happy Valley Warriors and the Black Knights of Chuckey-Doak.
This was yet another tightly contested game as both teams were able to counter each other’s efforts.
But after the dust had settled, it was the Warriors who would gain the late advantage and come out on top, 39-24.
In the win, Donovan Maxwell led the Warriors with eight points, followed closely by Jaydon Kent and Austin Nickels with seven points apiece. Drew Blevins added six points. Dylan Furr, AJ Campbell, Dylan Taylor, and Bucky Forbes finished with four, three, two, and two points respectively.
For the Black Knights, Cash Paysinger led his team in the effort with 11 points, followed by Tyler Britton and Kent Black with five and four points, while Ben Palazzo and Lynkin Cutshaw scored twp points each.
The last contest of the night was a girls matchup that featured the Lady Bulldogs of Hampton and the Johnson County Lady Longhorns.
Unlike the previous matchups, this contest was a one-sided affair. The Lady Bulldogs took the lead early and never looked back as they went on to win by a score of 40-20
In the win, Piper Helle and Faye Carrico led the Lady Bulldogs with 12 and 10 points followed by Abbie Lunsford and Hannah Smith scoring four points each.
