It wasn’t pretty at times, but the Lady Warriors pulled away when it counted.
No. 3 Happy Valley used a strong fourth quarter to take a 73-55 victory over No. 6 Sullivan South on Thursday night in the District 1-AA tournament at Sullivan South High School.
The win advances the Lady Warriors to Saturday’s semifinals against Sullivan East as well as the Region 1-AA tournament.
Happy Valley and Sullivan South traded shots early in the game before a pair of Kaitlyn Roberts 3-pointers pushed Happy Valley to a 17-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. After Sullivan South pulled within three points, Kalee Johnson drained a jumper and Charli Bare added a free throw to give HV a 29-23 halftime advantage.
In the third quarter, the Lady Rebels quickly closed the gap before tying the game at 38-38 with just over three minutes to play in the third quarter. However, Happy Valley erased the any thoughts of an upset as the Lady Warriors hit the gas pedal behind the play of Emily Whitaker, Johnson and Adrienne Henegar in the final quarter.
Johnson finished the game with 29 points, while Henegar added 15 points. Roberts finished with eight points. Whitaker tallied seven points in the game.