HAPPY CAMP – The Butte Valley Bulldogs (12-11) scored first and held the lead 3-0, but that was one of the few up notes for the Bulldogs, as the third-seeded Happy Camp Indians (13-8) took the lead 4-3 on buckets by Meeko Sanchez and Dave Schmidt, and led the rest of the way.

Happy Camp led 16-10 at the end of one quarter, and extended their lead to 17 points, 37-20, by halftime.

The Bulldogs managed to trim one point off the Indians’ lead in the third quarter, primarily behind the 3-point proficiency of Ryan Gleason to make it 50-34. However, the fourth quarter was all Indians. With the Indians up 53-37, Phil Tripp stole the ball and went the distance for a hoop that started an 18-8 run for Happy Camp to finish out the game, with a 71-45 win.

Tripp led the Indians with 18 points and 4 swipes. Sanchez had 13 points and 7 boards. Dave Schmidt put up 10 points. David Ward had 7 rebounds and Nick Bryant had 6. Joey Polmateer dished out 5 assists.

Gleason led the Bulldogs with 16 points, including four 3-balls.

Despite the lopsided win, Indian Coach John Kufner felt that his team didn’t play to their ability.

“I think we can step it up a little bit. We need to value the ball more. We did some silly things, and we need to play better defense,” said Kufner. “When we win by 20 something, I shouldn’t complain. I guess I’m an old school coach. I can always find room for improvement. We can play better.”

Happy Camp will travel to second-seeded Hayfork on Tuesday, Feb. 26 for a semifinal match. Hayfork defeated tenth-seeded Surprise Valley, 62-42, in the second-round of the NSCIF D-VI playoffs.