It seemed the Warriors were saving the best for last Monday evening as they pulled together a rally in the fourth to top Johnson County 63-58 for a Three Rivers Conference win inside Bayless Gym.
Happy Valley trailed the Longhorns through the first three-quarters of play. Heading into the final frame, the Warriors followed Johnson County by nine points before putting together a 16-point run to take a 47-42 lead with less than four minutes left to play.
Happy Valley senior Austin Hicks scored seven of his game-high 22 points during the Warriors’ fourth-quarter drive.
“If we are going to win in our league Austin has to produce, and he did,” said Happy Valley head coach Chuck Babb. “I thought he made some big plays down the stretch. He got active in the post.”
Down the fourth-quarter stretch, the Longhorns had a final bit of fight in them as they, using a three-point from both Bud Icenhour and Blake Atwood, pulled the game to within one point as Happy Valley led 59-58 with less than 30 second left to play. However, Hicks and Happy Valley’s Sam Blevins went to the foul line and kept the Warriors ahead.
“We knew it was going to be crazy, even when we got up to a nine-point lead there,” said Babb. “We made some dumb mistakes like long passes. We know we can’t make those kinds of passes against the defense that there are running.
“They have some great shooters,” Babb continued about the Longhorns. “Blake Atwood, I thought he played a great game. And you also know what you are going to get with Bud (Icenhour). ”
Coming out of the first quarter, the Warriors trailed Johnson County 13-8, before outscoring the Longhorns 15-12 in the frame to head into the half with JC leading 25-23. In the second quarter, Hick recorded five points while his teammate, Bryce Carter, posted four points to help the Warriors.
The Warriors stayed just a step behind the Longhorns in the third frame, finding themselves trailing by just one point on four different occasions. In the last three minutes of the quarter, the Longhorns connected for eight unanswered points to hold a 42-33 lead over the Warriors heading into the final quarter.
Happy Valley’s Chris Young finished the night with 11 points for the Warriors, while Blevins closed things out with ten. Warriors Noah Worley would have six, and Carter had four. Brayden Sams finished with two.
The Warriors are now 2-0 in the Three Rivers Conference and 6-2 overall.
“This is big for us,” Babb said about being undefeated in the conference early in the season. “You have to win your home conference games if you are going to have a chance to compete for the top spot. We are going to have to play well to evening think about that.”