BY ANTHONY STEVENS
for the Daily Telegraph
BRISTOL, Va. — The nightcap of the Bearcat Invitational was a thriller. The Tigers held on for a narrow 62-58 decision over Happy Valley at the Bearcat Den to advance to face defending champion Graham tonight.
After a 3-pointer by Brett Boyd, Honaker held a 25-9 lead with 4:02 to play in the first half. The Warriors went on an 11-1 run to make it a six-point game. The Tigers were up 28-20 at halftime.
“We lost the game in the first eight minutes, we looked like a deer in headlights,” Happy Valley coach Chuck Babb said. “We’re were doing things we hadn’t done all year; I don’t know I think my team changed the offense while they were out there without telling me. It obviously didn’t work, then we started playing a style we can play and got back in it.”
Back in it they were. The Warriors cut the Honaker lead to 30-29 on a trey by Tyler Torbett early in the third quarter. Honaker used the scoring of Tanner Robinette, Boyd and Hartley Hilton to slowly build the lead back to nine, but Chis Young nailed a 3-pointer and Happy Valley was within six going to the final stanza.
“We lost our intensity,” Honaker coach Marcus Dunham said. “We didn’t play at the level we needed to play at in the third quarter. We were very fortunate that Happy Valley missed a few shots.
“We made a lot of mistakes tonight and we need to clean those up.”
The Tigers pulled back out by 12 points early in the fourth period. It didn’t last long. Happy Valley went on a 7-0 run and it was a five-point game. The Warriors could get no closer than three points down the stretch.
Brandon Sample, Hilton, Robinette and Blake Stinson were able to hit some clutch buckets and free throws the final two minutes for the Tigers.
Robinette finished with triple-double, 23 points, 15 rebounds and 11 blocked shots. Boyd added 18 points and Hilton tossed in 13 points.
“This was a great game for us,” stated Dunham. “A good test early in the season against someone that’s aggressive, with a good hard defense. This was nothing but good for my team.”
M.J. Camargo (14 points), Young (13), and Sam Blevins (11) were the leaders for Happy Valley.
Honaker will play Graham tonight at 7 o’clock in the Bearcat Invitational quarterfinals.


HONAKER (62)
Sample 2 1-2 5, Boyd 6 1-2 18, Hilton 6 1-2 13, Stinson 1 2-4 2, Robinette 6 11-16 23, Eaton 0 0-0 0, Coleman 0 1-2 1. Totals 20 17-28 62.
HAPPY VALLEY (58)
Sams 3 1-2 7, Young 5 0-0 13, Kyte 3 0-0 6, Torbett 1 0-0 3, Hicks 5 4-4 14, Worley 0 0-0 0, Barlow 1 2-2 4, Camargo 0 0-0 0, Blevins 1 9-10 11. Totals 19 16-18 58.
Honaker..........................14 14 16 18 — 62
Happy Valley.....................6 14 18 20 — 58
3-point goals – Honaker 5 (Boyd 5), Happy Valley 4 (Young 3, Torbett 1). Total fouls – Honaker 15, Happy Valley 20. Fouled out - none. Technicals – Blevins.