Despite a big 28-point game from Johnson County’s Cody Bailie, the Warriors were able take off in the second half to defeat the Longhorns 60-52.

Under the goals, it was the battle of the 24s as Austin Hicks and Bailie faced off. Hicks ended up recording 22 points on the night to lead the Warriors, but he had his hands full with a determined Bailie.

“It was a battle,” Happy Valley head coach Chuck Babb said. “Austin battled him. Bailie has a really good midrange game. He gets to the rim good. We did a better job late in the fourth quarter to staying in front of him. We kept coming off the floor when he pumped faked. We were able to make him take tough jumpers. I though we did better in the fourth quarter.”

Happy Valley’s Tyler Torbett and Chris Young followed up Hicks with 11 points each on the night.

After heading into the half trailing the Johnson County 28-24, the Warriors came out in the third and got to work. Happy Valley outpaced the Longhorns 17-10 in the third frame. Torbett posted seven points in the quarter, while Hicks added six of his own. Heading into the final frame, the Warriors led 41-38.

The Warriors opened up the final frame with five unanswered points to take a 44-38 lead with 6:54 left to play. Behind two foul shots from Sam Blevins and a bucket by Brayden Sam, the Warriors took a 10-point lead with less than five minutes to play. The Warriors kept on the pressure in final minutes of play to hold on for a win.

“We were able to get stops,” Babb said. “The big things was, when we got stops, we got rebounds. We stopped them a lot in the first half, but we did not followed it with rebounds. . . I thought we did a good job getting out and running the floor.”

In the first period, the Longhorns got the better of the Warriors as they rushed out to a 11-7 lead heading into second half. In the second quarter, however, Hicks came alive as he posted 10 points in the period to help get the Warriors back within striking distance before heading into the half.

The Warriors will be back on the floor Friday as they host Sullivan East for senior night.

Happy Valley 60-52

Johnson County 11 17 10 14 — 52

Happy Valley 7 17 17 19 — 60

Johnson County (52)

Cody Bailie 28, Blake Atwood 7, Brandon Vannoy 5, Sean Lewis 4, Jose Guzman 3, Bud Icenhour 3, Caleb Throp 2.

Happy Valley (60)

Austin Hicks 22, Tyler Torbett 11, Chris Young 11, Sam Blevins 5, Josh Hammonds 5, Brayden Sams 4, Dylan Barlow 2.

3pt goals—  JC 3 (Icenhour, Guzman, Lewis) Happy Valley 3 (Young, Hammonds, Torbett ).