After the Warriors’ hard-fought 54-51 win over the Sullivan South Rebels, Tuesday night at Happy Valley, HV head coach Jeremy Maddox wanted his player to know that the win was not a fluke.

The Warriors, which have had some troubles this season, trailed as much as 16 points in the first half before coming alive in the second half to outscore South 38-20 over the third and fourth quarters.

The third quarter saw Happy Valley go on a 12-2 march to cut Sullivan South’s lead to 39-34 heading to the fourth quarter. The Warriors Blake Young collected eight of his 14 points in the third quarter to pace Happy Valley’s comeback. Young’s teammate Bryce Carter knocked five points off some mid-range jumpers while HV’s Dylan Willis hit a trey to help the Warriors cause.

“We talked at the half, and it wasn’t so much that we were playing bad, we weren’t making shots,” said Maddox. “When we don’t make shots, it makes everything look worse. Blake (Young) played a huge third quarter for us. I think Dakota (Cochran) played his best game for us. He didn’t score much, but defensively he did so many good things. I am just super proud of the guys.”

Young opened the fourth quarter with a trey before the Warriors embarked on an eight-point rally to take a 45-41 lead early in the fourth quarter. The Rebels would force a 47-47 tie late in the final frame. The Warriors, however, would make two big defensive stops under the Rebels goal as they held on for a victory.

“In the timeouts, we talked about just getting that one stop,” said Maddox. “We worked hard to get back in it. We knew we had to win tonight and tomorrow to avoid playing in a play-in game.”

With the win, the Warriors improved to 7-18 on the season while holding a 3-6 record in the Three Rivers Conference. Happy Valley’s other two wins in the TRC came over Unicoi and Sullivan Central.

Tuesday night, Carter led the Warriors with 20 points while Willis and James Harmon had 8 and 7, respectively.