Happy Valley recognizes Bailey’s 1000th career point as Warriors and Longhorns split

Published 10:49 pm Wednesday, February 8, 2023

By Ron Marvel

Star Correspondent

Happy Valley hosted Johnson County Tuesday night as both teams were looking to gain some steam as post-season looms. Before the varsity teams kicked off, the Warriors took time to acknowledge Kadie Bailey’s 1000^th career point

The Lady Warriors used an aggressive style of play which put the Lady Longhorns on their heels and then took advantage of their free throw opportunities in the clutch to pull away with the double-digit lead. Kadie Bailey and Mailey Guy would spark their teams to the early first-period lead, combining for 11 of the 16 points scored. Marcida Moore would use her first-step quickness to draw fouls in the second period and hit layups to help post the Lady Warriors to a 14-point halftime lead, 36-22.

The Lady Warriors would keep the Longhorns at bay for the rest of the game and hit 9 of 13 free throws in the fourth period to secure the win. Marcida Moore and Kadie Bailey each would have 20 on the night, while Mailey Guy would chip in 13. In the pre-game, Coach Hill and Bailey would talk about Bailey’s dedication to the Lady Warriors in scoring her 1000^th career point.

“Kadie has meant a lot. The first year I was here, Kadie as a freshman, wrote that she wanted to score 1,000 points here as one of her goals and she stayed true to that goal. I am super proud of her for accomplishing that. She bought in here, we are getting this program back to where it needs to be and Kadie has been a big part of that,” Coach Hill shared. Kadie Bailey also shared what being at Happy Valley has meant to her “it feels great I set this goal and I accomplished it, I love being a Warrior, this place is my family through thick and thin.”

The Warriors struggled to keep up with the Longhorns offense, although it wasn’t through a lack of effort but an inability to get shots to fall in the second half that would be their undoing. Dakota Grindstaff and Cole Deakins would keep the Warriors in the game early as they were hitting three-pointers. The Longhorns would start to methodically pull away in the second period and would go in the locker room up 12 points. The Longhorns would then outscore the Warriors by ten points in the third period and hold the Warriors to just five points in the fourth period to salt the game away.

Dakota Grindstaff would lead the Warriors with 13 points and Cole Deakins would chip in nine points off three three-pointers. The Warriors will host the Elizabethton Cyclones Friday at 4 pm.