CHARLESTON, W.Va. — No.1 Spring Valley dispatched the eighth-seeded Capitol Cougars 84-60 in a Class AAA quarterfinal Wednesday night.
The Lady Wolves (23-3) took the lead for good with 3:23 left in the second quarter during a 13-2 run to end the half ahead 35-27. From there, Spring Valley’s full-court pressure overwhelmed Capital, which never managed to pull closer than eight points.
The Wolves benefited from two huge performances. Point guard Sarah Kelley enjoyed a triple-double with 20 points, 12 assists and 10 steals, while Madison Morris contributed 27 points and 15 rebounds.
“After we got our nerves out of the way, we started to play our game,” said Morris.
It was the second straight game the Lady Wolves started slowly, but like in the regional against Winfield, they turned it on in the second half to win convincingly.
“I thought it was a good game for us to start out with,” said Spring Valley coach Larry Miller. “We did not play very well in the first half, but once we settled down and started playing, I thought we played pretty well.
“We can’t afford to get off to slow starts in the future if we want to accomplish our goals.”
Brooke Heck also cashed in 16 points for the Wolves — 12 coming in the second half.
Spring Valley’s pressure forced 27 turnovers and held Capital (10-14) to just 32-percent shooting on the night
No 8. Capital was paced by Keke Walker, who came off the bench for 23 points, while Khadijah Lee scored 19.
Capital, who last week upset defending state champion Greenbrier East, saw its hopes slip away when it was outscored 24-13 in the third quarter.
“In the second half things got away from us real quick,” coach B.J. Calabrese said. “But if you look at where we started and where we ended, there was tremendous improvement.”
Spring Valley advances to Friday’s semifinals to play the winner of the Priceton-Logan game.
— CJ Ricker