Happy Valley chased down by Cougars
Published 12:27 am Tuesday, February 4, 2020
Star Photo/Dawn Lambert Lady Warrior Olivia Absher goes up for a shot over a pair of Lady Cougars.
Star Photo/Dawn Lambert Happy Valley's Emily Lunceford plays tough defense against Lady Cougar post player Abbey Crawford.
Star Photo/Dawn Lambert Happy Valley Lady Warrior head coach Thomas Gouge watches the action during his team's showdown with Central.
Star Photo/Dawn Lambert Happy Valley's Shayln Whitson works the ball looking for an open teammate.
Star Photo/Dawn Lambert Will Tittle of Happy Valley searches for an open teammate to make a pass to.
Star Photo/Dawn Lambert Dylan Willis of Happy Valley drives around a Central defender.
Star Photo/Dawn Lambert James Harmon puts up a shot for the Warriors in their game with Central.
Star Photo/Dawn Lambert Happy Valley's James Harmon is double-teamed as he attempts a shot against Central.
Star Photo/Dawn Lambert Warrior head coach Jeremy Maddox talks to his team during a timeout.
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
BLOUNTVILLE – The Happy Valley Warriors knew they had a daunting task in front of them in Three Rivers Conference play on Friday night when they traveled to Blountville to square of with the Central Cougars.
It was two entirely different games as the Lady Warriors just couldn’t get any offensive momentum against the front-running and state-ranked Lady Cougars in dropping a 44-29 contest while the boys played a nail biter falling 61-59 to Central.
Boys
Central…………61
Happy Valley…..59
In the evening’s nightcap, Coach Jeremy Maddox’s Warriors had the Cougars within a noose’s length before Central managed to shake off Happy Valley’s gutsy effort.
The game was close at the break as Central managed to work out to a 29-25 lead as the two teams battled it out in the first 16 minutes of action.
A big second quarter by the Warriors James Harmon helped to keep HV in contention to win the game as Harmon scored 11 of the Warriors 19 in the period.
Both teams turned it up a notch offensively in the second half as the Cougars were barely able to make the four-point half time lead be the difference in the contest as Happy Valley outscored Central 34-32 in the second half of play.
Blake Young came alive in the second half to lead the Warriors in scoring on the night with 17 points scoring 15 of the 17 in the final 16 minutes of play.
Harmon closed out his night with 16 points for Happy Valley. Dylan Willis totaled nine points in the contest while Luke Roberts finished with eight.
Alex Lunceford and Landon Babb closed out the Warriors scoring with six and three points respectively.
Girls
Central………..44
Happy Valley…29
Led by Abbey Crawford’s 14 points and 10 from Parker Hurd, the Central Lady Cougars remained perfect in Three Rivers Conference play with a 44-29 win.
The Lady Warriors just couldn’t overcome the Lady Cougars scoring as seven Happy Valley players scored but none without double figures in the loss.
Jaiden Clark paced Coach Thomas Gouge’s squad with nine points in the contest.
Olivia Absher and Kadie Bailey accounted for six points each in the contest.
Casey Campbell, Kenzie Ramey, Emily Lunceford, and Shalyn Whitson each contributed two points apiece.
Saturday Night
Happy Valley…45
Chuckey Doak…40
The Happy Valley Lady Warriors ran their record to 14-11 on the season with a 45-40 win over the Lady Black Knights of Chuckey Doak.
Gabby Wood led the Lady Warrior charge with 12 points in the contest. Happy Valley also got double figures from Olivia Absher and Jaiden Clark who scored 10 points apiece.
Emily Lunceford totaled eight points in the victory while Casey Campbell (4) and Shalyn Whitson (1) closed out the scoring ledger for the Lady Warriors.
Jaynes led Chuckey Doak with a game-high 17 points in the contest. Davis added 13 points.
