Lady Warriors 81, Lady Buccaneers 40

An aggressive and steady attack by the Lady Warriors allowed them to get past University High 81-40 Monday night inside Happy Valley High School.

The Lady Warriors’ were spearheaded by a senior and a freshmen Monday night. Both senior Kalee Johnson and freshman Bayley McGee almost had double-doubles, with Johnson bringing in 17 points and nine rebounds and McGee posting 15 points and nine steals.

As a freshman McGee has really stepped up to the high school level, Happy Valley head coach Larry Abel said.

“She has played some good games,” he said. “She really stepped up during our game against Cloudland. We decided to move her into the starting lineup tonight, and that is because of the effort we have been seeing in practice. Her performance was really good tonight, and we are blessed to have such a talented freshman.”

After coming out of the first quarter with just a 1-point edge over University High, the Lady Warriors picked up the intensity in the second period to push themselves out to a 40-19 lead.

“We have been trying to work on picking up our intensity and pressure,” Abel said. “In the second quarter we were able to do that, and it resulted in a big quarter.

In the third period, the Lady Warriors kept pushing forward. Happy Valley conducted a 11-2 run to give themselves a 49-20 lead over UH with 3:54 left in the third. Happy Valley’s Haley Green picked up six points late in the third to give her team a 59-31 heading into the fourth.

The fourth quarter started with McGee sinking a bucket and one to spark a 12-3 run, giving the Lady Warriors a 71-34 lead with 5:42 remaining in the game. The game was closed out with  back-to-back buckets, one from Makayla Fraizer and one from Kenzie Davis.

Emily Whitaker finished the game with 10 points, while Charli Bare picked up eight. Davis, Sydney Puckett, Green, and Brianna Buck all had six. Fraizer had four, while Adrienne Henegar scored three.

Warriors 63, Buccaneers 59

The Warriors had their hands full Monday night as they faced off with University High.

In a game that came down to the very last second, the Warriors were able to slip past the Bucs 63-59.

The scored was tied up six times Monday night. With 2:04 left to play, Warriors Josh Hammonds busted a three to push the Warriors out to a 57-54 lead. Steady foul shooting from Happy Valley gave the Warriors enough cushion to hold the Buccaneers at bay.

The Warriors were led in scoring by Austin Hick, who had 20 points. He was followed up by Nathan Kyte, who had 12, while Chris Young finished with 11. Tyler Torbett picked up 10. Hammonds finished with six, while Sam Blevins closed things out with two.

The Warriors and the Lady Warriors will be back on the court tonight as they travel over to Unaka High School.