KINGSPORT – The Happy Valley Warriors may have found a path to success in the 2018-19 basketball season and that is zone defense. The Warriors – employing a 3-2 zone – won their second straight game in the Kelly Services Christmas tournament, played at J, Richard Carroll gymnasium with a 46-28 victory over Chuckey-Doak on Saturday.

“I am not a zone coach by personality,” Warriors head coach Jeremy Maddox said. “But you have to do what it takes to win. I think we have found something. The kids are playing hard and they had every reason to mail it in, but they are still battling. The zone has been really good.”

HV (3-11 overall) held the Black Knights to just ten second-half points after taking a 29-18 halftime lead. Senior post Bryce Carter scored nine of his game-high 15 points in the first half and added ten rebounds for a double-double.

C-D shot 12-for-35 from the floor (34.2 percent) but didn’t get many good looks and the HV defense kept them from many fast break opportunities and had to use many passes to get a somewhat open look.

On the other hand, the Warriors got quicker looks and moved the ball better shooting 14-for-31 (45.6 percent) and hit on a pair of 3-balls from Noah Stevens and guard Timmy Mounts. The third quarter was a snooze-fest with the teams combining for nine points with the Warriors getting five, but HV found some offense in the fourth quarter, outscoring C-D 12-6.

Stevens finished with 11 points and Blake Young added six for the Warriors while Jordan Morelocke led the way for the Knights with 10 points.

Seventh Place Game

Sullivan North 47, Cloudland 42

A deuce from senior forward Robert Leeper made it a 40-40 game to open the fourth quarter, but the Golden Raiders went on a 6-2 run and took seventh place in the tournament. Leeper scored a team-high 17 points, with Conor Birchfield adding seven for the ‘Landers.

Trey Williams led all scorers with 18 points for North with Evan Bishop adding eight.

Cloudland (4-9 overall) were without guards Bentley Gilbert and Hunter Shell as well as senior post Josh Blair but were able to hang with North through most of the contest until running out of gas at the end.

Kelly Services Tournament

J. Richard Carroll gym

Sullivan North H.S.

Happy Valley 46-28

Chuckey-Doak (28)

Morelocke 10, Cobble 2, Haynes 3, Maupin 5, Jennings 4, E. Palozzo 4.

Happy Valley (46)

Willis 2, Stevens 11, Cochran 2, Young 6, Carter 15, Mounts 5, Roberts 2, Harmon 3.

Chuckey-Doak           7 11 4 6 – 28

Happy Valley         10 19 5 12 – 46

3-poinjt goals: C-D 1 (Maupin), HV 2 (Stevens 1, Mounts 1).