KINGSPORT— After dropping their first game of the year to Hampton Thursday evening, the Happy Valley Warriors were looking to get a touch of salve applied to their wound with a trip to Kingsport Friday night.
The game was what the doctor ordered as the Warriors dealt the home-standing North Raiders a 58-45 defeat before a sparse crowd inside J. Richard Carroll Gymnasium.
Aside from sending the Raiders to the line 20 times in the fourth quarter for 15 points, Coach Chuck Babb was happy just to get to the end of a grueling week where his Warriors have played four games in five days.
“I learned tonight that we have to be more consistent,” said Babb in evaluating his team’s performance. “There were times in the game where we could have put the game away and missed layups and took bad shots which led to points at the other end.
“We are not playing our best basketball yet, but we are still trying to find our way. We need practice is what we really need. Four games in five days, and we are happy to get a win tonight, but we need to get in the gym and practice.”
The Warriors (4-1, 1-0) were running full throttle missing some easy opportunities in the early going but still managed to take a 12-point lead into the locker room at intermission, 30-18.
Brayden Sams led the charge with eight points in the first two quarters and had plenty of support from Chris Young and Dillion Barlow who knocked down five points each.
Sam Blevins and Noah Worley added four each as well.
Bailey Byrns, Tyler Arnold, and Devan Price kept North within reach with six points apiece for the Raiders.
Happy Valley came out after the break and built a sizeable 24-point lead which allowed Babb to go deep on his bench as 10 plays broke into the scoring ledger and allowed the Warrior starters some much need rest.
Blevins and Barlow led the scoring for Happy Valley with nine points each for the contest. Young and Sams finished with eight points apiece while Worley and Dylan Street collected seven and five points respectively.
North’s Price was the game-high scorer hitting for 17 points for the contest including 8-of-8 from the line in the fourth period. Arnold chipped in with 13 for the Raiders.