Happy Valley sweeps Junior 'Dogs

By Wes Holtsclaw
STAR CORRESPONDENT

   Yesterday afternoon, just like Duran Duran, the Happy Valley Middle Warriors were 'Hungry Like A Wolf.'
   Going into the fourth quarter with a four-point lead, the Warriors played their 'A-Game' late to clobber the Hampton Jr. Bulldogs 54-41.
   "We played hard," said Warrior coach Rik Anderson. "We needed to pick up our intensity level. We have a lot of things to learn, but if they play like that, it will be easy for them."
   Both teams opened up early scoring back-to-back shots. Brandon Barnett and Lucas Roark helped Hampton get on the board early, but Todd Caldwell stepped it up scoring six of his 14 points in the quarter giving Happy Valley the 13-12 edge after one.
   The second quarter was a dead heat, with Caldwell battling it out with Jordan Honeycutt and Jon Potter to give their respective teams an advantage.
   But neither team would do what it took to swing the momentum, as it was tied 25-25 after the second quarter.
   In the second half, it appeared as though Happy Valley found their niche.
   With Michael Sims and Ricky Morgan making some tough defensive strikes and pulling the game away with their clean shots, the Warriors took a lead into the fourth quarter.
   After the first possession in the quarter, that would be all she wrote.
   As Morgan and Chris Bennett made some crucial inside plays to give Happy Valley a lead they would never release, as they made their free throws ending it 54-41.
   "We played well for awhile, but we just quit," said Hampton coach Leon Tolley. "We are very consistant and being inconsistant, that's why we're not very good right now."
   Ricky Morgan led all scores with 15 and Michael Sims added ten, while Hampton's Jordan Honeycutt contributed 12.
   Happy Valley 43
   Hampton 29
   Earlier in the evening, the Happy Valley Middle Lady Warriors were like a box of chocolates, you never knew what you were going to get, as the girls knocked off county rival Hampton, 54-41.
   Led by Shonna Raines' 11 point effort, the Lady Warriors did everything that the Hampton team couldn't.
   Happy Valley got out to an early 12-5 lead after the first quarter, as Amber Duncan and Raines blasted the Lady Bulldogs with their impressive shooting.
   Hampton's Lauren Pitman and Laura Osborne kept them in the game at the end of the first, holding Happy Valley to their seven point lead.
   It was all Samantha Canter and Emily Good in the second half, as the Warriors steamrolled Hampton.
   The Lady Dogs never gave up, but the Happy Valley pressure was too much, as the Warriors took it 43-29.
   Duncan, Good, and Canter all added 10 points in the contest. Pitman had 11for Hampton.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ack, as seven players dented the scoring column for Coach Ned Smith.