Basketball Recap: Happy Valley Takes a Loss

Happy Valley was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their seventh straight defeat. They came up short against the Unicoi County Blue Devils, falling 71-51. While losing is never fun, the Warriors can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee basketball rankings (they are ranked 384th, while the Blue Devils are ranked 125th).

Unicoi County was led to victory by Jackson Simmons and Kaden Cutlip. Simmons went 10 of 18 en route to 29 points along with five boards and three steals, while Cutlip went 5 for 12 on his way to 19 points in addition to seven rebounds and three steals. That's the most steals Cutlip has posted since back in December of 2024. Another player making a difference was Garrett Sellars, who posted six points.

Happy Valley's loss dropped their record down to 2-19. As for Unicoi County, their win ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 14-10.

Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Happy Valley has already played their next match (against South Greene), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing. Unicoi County will take on Volunteer at 8:00 p.m. on Monday. Unicoi County is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 63.3 points per game this season.