7th-grade tournament concludes at HVMS
Published 1:23 am Thursday, February 20, 2020
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StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
Happy Valley’s Donovan Maxwell (11) hits a one-handed floater in the lane as Hampton’s Noah Nichols (32) blows by in the second quarter.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
The Jr. Bulldogs Conner McKinney (12) blows by a Happy Valley defender and puts up a layup in the first quarter.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
Hampton’s Faye Carrico (24) heaves a desperation jumper towards the basket, with just under three seconds in the second quarter, from behind the foul line that rattles off the rim to end the half.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
With Chuckey Doak’s Saniah Atchinson (11) closely guarding her the Jr. Lady Bulldogs Piper Helle (2) steps back and nails a jumper from just outside of the paint.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
The Jr Lady Warriors Lacey Byrd (15) boxes out and pulls down a rebound in front of Cloudland’s Layken Blair (25)in the third quarter.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
The Jr Lady Warriors Lacey Byrd (15) drives the lane for a layup and is fouled by Cloudland’s Layken Blair (25), sending her to the line for two. Byrd sank both free throws sending the game into overtime.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders
Cloudland’s Layken Blair (25) cuts across the paint and fires up a baby hook shot.
BY NIC MILLER
STAR CORRESPONDENT
Happy Valley – After two games Monday evening to determine who would play in the 7th-grade tournament championship the action picked back up Tuesday at Happy Valley Middle School for the final matchups of the tournament.
Three of the matchups on Tuesday – the girl’s third-place game, the boy’s third-place game, and the girl’s championship featured teams from Carter County.
The first matchup was a girls contest between two local squads, the Happy Valley Lady Warriors and the Lady Highlanders from Cloudland.
This game was a defensive battle throughout with Cloudland taking a slight 9-6 lead late in the first half.
However, the Lady Warriors came out of halftime on fire making it a neck and neck game until the final buzzer leading to an overtime period with the score knotted at 25.
After no points were scored in overtime, a second overtime was underway where the Lady Highlanders would come out on top, 33-30.
For the Lady Highlanders, Layken Blair led the team with 14 points with Makenzie Street following with nine.
In the effort, Lacey Byrd contributed 20 points for the Lady Warriors as Natalie Cline and Cayden Anderson also contributed four points apiece.
The second game of the night was a boys matchup that featured the Warriors of Happy Valley and the Hampton Bulldogs.
The Warriors came out of the gate blazing hot and ran away with the lead going into the second half, 29-7.
Things continued the same way in the second half as Happy Valley never looked back winning by a score of 45-14.
Donavan Maxwell led the Warriors with 14 points in the contest with Jayden Kent scoring eight of his own while Dylan Taylor and Drew Blevins each scored six.
For the Bulldogs, Logan Lunsford and Noah Nichols each led the team with four points. Will Cable contributed three points of his own.
The last contest of the night was a girls game that would determine the first and second place teams in the tournament.
This matchup featured the Chuckey Doak Lady Black Knights and the Hampton Lady Bulldogs and as expected it was an even matchup throughout all four quarters.
After going back and forth through the first half, the Lady Black Knights would pull slightly ahead for a 17-14 halftime advantage.
Things continued in their back and forth nature through the third and fourth periods, but eventually, it was the Lady Black Knights who would escape with the win, 35-27.
In the win, Saniah Atchinson led the Lady Black Knights with 11 points followed by Brylee Tullock who scored 10.
For the Lady Bulldogs, Piper Helle led her team in the effort with 10 points, while Faye Carrico and Hannah Smith contributed six and four respectively.
