On Tuesday night at Bayless gym, the Happy Valley Lady Warriors got back on the winning track with a 56-33 victory over University High while the short-handed Warriors fell to the Junior Buccaneers by a 66-42 tally.

The Lady Warriors (5-5) got double-digit scoring from three starters and were sharp from 3-point range connecting on eight long-distance tries. Forward Tiana Long scored 11 points and had two 3-ball shots, while senior guard Adrienne Henegar had 17 points with four dimes.

HV also used a stifling defense that held the Lady Buccaneers to just two made shot from the floor in the second half.

“Most of their points in the second half came on free throws,” Lady Warriors head coach Thomas Gouge said. “The first two or three minutes of the second half we pushed the lead to 15-16 points and that was huge. We have been a second-half team most of the season. I had to give a halftime speech because I thought we were sluggish in the first half. We were able to get everyone in the game. I thought Emma Blevins gave us a lift and we expect anyone we put in the game to perform.”

The Warriors trailed 14-13 after one period as the Lady Bucs hit four 3-balls and it looked as if this would be a tough game for HV, but a 10-4 second period gave them a 23-18 halftime advantage.

HV blew the game open in the third quarter with a 16-0 period that gave the Warriors a 39-18 lead going into the final stanza. Junior post Shalyn Whitson scored 12 points and youngster Blevins had six for HV including one trey.

BOYS

University High 66, Happy Valley 42

Playing without starters Noah Stevens and Dakota Cochran, the Warriors lacked the firepower to stay with the sharpshooting Buccaneers. The Junior Bucs (6-2) used a zone type defense to hold senior post Bryce Carter to just nine points on four-for-nine from the floor.

“We struggled a little bit defensively with foul trouble,” Junior Bucs head coach Justin Penley said. “A lot of that has to go to Happy Valley. They play hard, and they were committed to getting the ball into the hands of Carter because he is a really good player and a matchup problem for us. We had a game plan to guard him, and I felt like we executed it well.”

The Bucs used a 22-7 second quarter to power them to a 35-14 halftime lead and while HV played much better in the second half the deficit was too much to overcome. Forward Kaleb Meredeth scored a game-high 23 points which included five 3-balls and guard Marshall Fleenor added 13 for UH.

Luke Roberts led the way for HV with 14 points with Carter scoring nine and Landon Babb adding six.

GIRLS

Happy Valley 56-33

University High (33)

Crabtree 4, Fisher 3, Johnson 6, Newberry 13, Rice 2, Dockery 3, Leonard 2.

Happy Valley (56)

Long 11, Ad. Henegar 17, Absher 5, Whitson 12, Lunceford 2, Campbell 3, Blevins 6.

University High  14 4 0 15 – 33

Happy Valley       13 10 16 17 – 56

3-point goals:UH 4 (Newberry 2, Fisher 1, Dockery 1), HV 8 (Ad. Henegar 4, Long 2, Absher 1, Blevins 1)

BOYS

University High 66-42

University High (66)

Fleenor 13, Harrison 2, Meredeth 23, Broome 4, Hubbard 9, Daniel 9, Vargo 3, Cunningham 1, Blowers 2

Happy Valley (42)

Mounts 4, Harmon 2, Carter 9, Lunceford 4, Babb 6, Roberts 14, Miller 4

University High   13 22 14 17 –  66

Happy Valley        7   7 10 19 – 42

3-point goals: UH 10 (Meredeth 5, Daniel 3, Vargo 1, Hubbard 1), HV 0.