If the basketball fans inside J. Richard Carroll Gymnasium were looking for a contest that was as pretty as a Picasso masterpiece, they were definitely in the wrong place.
But in the game of basketball, if one can get a win—no matter how ugly, you take it and live to play another day.
Such was the case for the Lady Warriors of Happy Valley as Coach Larry Abel’s squad didn’t execute to the head coach’s liking, but Abel will gladly take the 48-29 win to open the Three River’s Conference slate for his team Friday night at Sullivan North.
“I’m not real happy with that (the win),” said Abel after the contest. “Communication was the big issue we had tonight in the half-court defense. We didn’t do a good job communicating and left some people open, but offensively it’s kind of the story that I’ve been preaching is that you live and die by the three balls.
“Right now we are not being aggressive enough attacking the rim,” Abel continued. “I thought we had some good looks when we attacked, but in the second half we shot as many three’s as we did two’s and when they aren’t falling, it creates a problem. We need to learn to quit settling for a three-pointer that you can take at any time.
“It just comes down to execution.”
Despite the communication issues, the Lady Warriors (4-4, 1-0) worked themselves into a 31-14 lead. Kaitlyn Roberts did most of the damage in the half hitting 10 of her game-high 12 points in the first 16 minutes of play.
Haley Green helped the Happy Valley cause with five while Emily Whitaker, Kaitlin Depriest, Bayley McGee, and Adrienne Henegar tossed in three points apiece.
Rachel Fleenor scored seven to pace the Lady Raiders in the half.
Neither team burnt it up in the second half as the Lady Warriors outscored North 17-15 in the final 16 minutes of action to secure the win.
Besides Roberts 12 points, the Lady Warriors received seven points from Green while Whitaker and Depriest finished with six points each. McGee followed with five points.
Depriest had one of her best games according to Abel while Tianna Long played a huge role off the Lady Warrior bench with her inside presence.
Fleenor led North with 12 points. Makenzie Harrison added seven points while Kaitlyn Vaughn contributed five points.
The Lady Warriors host Cloudland on Tuesday on Warrior Hill.