After a tight first half, the Warriors came alive in the last two quarters to outpace the Raiders 76-53 to close out the regular season.

Sparking the Warriors in the second half was Brayden Sams, who scored all 11 of his points in the third quarter, a period that saw Happy Valley out score Sullivan North 23-13 to head into the final frame up 52-38.

“Defense made the difference in the third,” Happy Valley head coach Chuck Babb said. “We got them into some situation were they made some bad decisions with the press. When they did take shots and missed, we were able to get the rebound and score in transition.”

“I thought Brayden was the spark plug for us in the fourth quarter,” Babb added.

The Warriors were led by two 18-point games from Sam Blevins and Austin Hicks.

“Sam Blevins had his best game of the year,” Babb said. “It was his career high. He came in off the bench and played well.

“Austin ended up with 18, and he does that,” Babb added. “You won’t know he had it until you look at the book.”

The Warriors kept things rolling in the fourth quarter as they out did Sullivan North 24-15. Leading the fourth quarter attack was Happy Valley’s Chris Young, who posted eight points in the period before closing out the night with 11.

The first quarter saw the teams fight out to a 11-point tie. In the quarter, Hicks posted six points while Josh Hammonds, who finished the night with nine, recorded three and Blevins picked up two.

The second quarter stayed close as Happy Valley out score Sullivan North 18-14 to head into the half up 29-25.

The Warriors (13-12) will face off with Unicoi (17-11) on Friday in the first round of the District 1-AA Tournament.

“It was great win for us,” Babb said. “Now it is time for us to get ready for Erwin.”