Lady Warriors 47, Lady Highlanders 35

A 21-point game from Lady Warriors’ Kalee Johnson and a fourth-quarter drive would spell difference Monday night inside Bayless Gymnasium as the Lady Warriors and the Lady Highlanders faced off in some non-conference action.

To cap off a game that went back and forth for three quarters the Lady Warriors conducted a 12-2 run to take a 47-35 win over the Lady ’Landers. Johnson provided 10 of the Lady Warriors’ 17 points during the fourth quarter.

The Lady Warriors were led in rebounds by Charli Bare, who pulled down eight boards on the night.

“. . . The past two games, Charli has killed it,” Johnson said after Monday night’s game. “

Happy Valley’s Emily Whitaker followed up Johnson with 10 points for the game, while freshman Baylee McGee racked up 7. Bare had four, and Brianna Buck and Sydney Puckett had two. Adrienne Henegar brought in one.

The first quarter was a low scoring affair as the Lady Warriors were able to come out ahead 5-4 heading into the second quarter.

In the second, things stayed even as the teams headed to the locker rooms tied at 16. In the second period, the Lady Highlanders were led by Shian Strickland, who had two three points within a minute of each other to tie the game at 12 with 4:07 left in the first half. With 40 second left in the second quarter, Strickland nailed a mid-range jumper to give her team a 16-15 lead, before the Lady Warriors hit a free throw to tie things up.

“I felt a whole better when I started hitting my shots,” Strickland said about her second quarter shooting.

In the third, the Lady Warriors were able to outscore Cloudland 13-8, with Johnson providing six of the 13, while Whitaker tacked on five of her own in the third, three of which was from a basket and one with 30 seconds left in the quarter to give her team a 27-24 lead heading into the fourth.

Cloudlands Trinity Vines followed up Strickland in scoring with ten points. Payton Johnson had four, while Johanna Johnson picked up three. Both Lisa Ellis and Stacia Wilson had two points each.

Warriors 49, Highlanders 43

Playing from behind is not an easy task, but the Warriors did not let a 9-point deficit in the fourth quarter get them down as they drove to a 49-43 win over Cloudland Monday night.

With 4:46 left in the game, the Warriors were trailing the Highlanders by nine points. However, the Warriors caught on fire as they orchestrated a 17-2 run. Happy Valley senior Josh Hammonds provided 8 of the 17, while junior Austin Hicks went 6 of 8 from the free throw line to help fight off the hungry Highlanders, who were playing with some of their players out sick, while the Warriors played without head coach Chuck Babb, who was also out due to illness.

Hammonds finished the night with 18, while Hicks provided 15. Filling in for Coach Babb was assistant Jeremy Maddox.

“In the fourth, coach Maddox called a timeout and said we had to step it up if we were going to win the ball game,” Hammonds said after Monday night’s game. “Hicks and I took over, I got to the rim, while Hicks hit some big foul shots.”

After a first half that saw the teams head to the locker rooms with Happy Valley leading 12-10, the Highlanders came out in the third and went on a 13-2 run to outpace Happy Valley 34-27 heading into the final quarter.

Preston Benfield led Cloudland in scoring with 11, while Joseph Trivette and Brinley Mull followed with eight points each.