CAMERON, W.Va. — Spring Valley jumped out to a fast start on their northern panhandle road trip, defeating two-time defending Class A state champion Cameron, 73-55 Friday evening at Dragon Indoor Stadium.
The Timberwolves scored the first nine points in the game, built a 24-14 lead after the first quarter and they held a double-digit lead for the entire second half.
“We came out with a lot of defensive intensity and defensive pressure full court. We turned them over early and got some easy baskets, which got us off to a good start,” said Spring Valley head coach Larry Bo Miller.
Cameron (3-4) has played teams in higher classifications for most of the first month of the season. The Dragons were led by Maci Neely’s 25-point effort. Ashlynn Van Tassell added 20 points.
“She is going to get hers. She is one of the best players in the state,” Miller said of Van Tassell. “She is going to get hers every night. We just wanted to make it hard on her and try to limit the other girls.”
Spring Valley (2-0) was paced by sophomore guard Sophi Hutchison. She scored 22 points. Brooklyn Ellis added 20 and Dria Parker chipped in with 17.
The Wolves connected on nine 3-pointers in the contest.
“We know we are a good perimeter team and we rely a lot of the 3-point shot.”
Spring Valley continues their weekend road trip with a game at Class AAAA runner-up Wheeling Park Saturday afternoon.
“We try to set tough games up like at the end of the year. When you get to Charleston and you have to play a good game Friday night and turn around and play another game Saturday morning. That’s what we hope to do at the end of the year. We hope we can build off this trip and get better as the season goes.”