CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Spring Valley girls basketball coach Bo Miller recognized how strong of a team the Timberwolves could be before playing a game in the 2024-25 season.
“I told people at the beginning of the year if we didn’t win it all, I should be fired,” Miller said.
Miller’s job security is in good shape.
The Class AAAA No. 1 Timberwolves shot 49 percent from the field, limited No. 2 Morgantown to 12 field goals and eight paint points and led for the final 27-plus minutes in a dominant 62-45 victory to cap the season at the Charleston Coliseum.
“I knew if we played up to our potential, nobody could beat us but ourselves,” Miller said.
The result gives Spring Valley (22-2) its first state championship and finishes off an unbeaten campaign against state competition (the Timberwolves two setbacks were against a team from Georgia and another from Alabama).
The Mohigans (20-4) got off to a quality start and led 8-5 after Tatum DeVries accounted for her second three-pointer.
Starting with Dria Parker’s triple in response, it was all SVHS.
Parker’s trey began a stretch of eight straight points from the Timberwolves, who outscored the Mohigans 15-2 over the remainder of the opening quarter to lead 20-10.
As usual, it was a mixture of efficient offense and dominant defense for Spring Valley, which shot 7 for 12 and limited the Mohigans to 4-for-15 shooting through 8 minutes.
“We were kind of playing our game. They went on a big run and we never responded,” MHS head coach John Fowkes said. “We talked about how we liked to play in transition and they took our transition game away.“
Allie Daniels’ conventional three-point play started the second-quarter scoring to make it a 13-point margin, and it remained that at halftime despite the Mohigans pulling to within 27-18 after DeVries made two free throws.
Parker’s two triples in a span of 1:10 gave her three treys for the game and the latter one left the Timberwolves with a 33-19 advantage before they settled for a 36-23 lead at the midway point of the matchup.
At the break, Spring Valley had 18 paint points to Morgantown’s four and the Timberwolves’ Sophi Hutchison led all players with 12 points.
“Nobody in the state can guard Sophi and she can get to the rim whenever she wants,” Parker said. “It opens me up whenever a defender has to help. Allie is the best post in the state and they have to double down on her or she’s going to get a bucket every time.”
Hutchison nor her teammates showed any sign of slowing down to start the second half, and the explosive junior guard scored two buckets over the first 56 seconds of the third quarter, before Brooklyn Ellis connected from long range to leave the Mohigans facing a 43-26 deficit.
“Don’t let up. Put your foot on their neck has been our motto here lately,” Miller said. “We turned it up on them.”
The Timberwolves led 53-31 through three quarters and by 23 with inside 5 minutes remaining before the Mohigans scored 11 of the final 16 points.
“We’re usually bigger than the other team. They’re bigger than us in various ways. They have size,” Fowkes said. “The big girl in the middle [Daniels] sagged off when we ran cuts through the middle and tried to back screen. She was always there. That’s a credit to them. Spring Valley gives great ball pressure. I didn’t make the correct adjustments at the right time for us to win the game.”
Hutchison led all players with 24 points and added four steals. She made 10-of-16 shots and was named the tournament’s most outstanding player.
Daniels added a double-double of 12 points and 16 rebounds, helping the Timberwolves win the battle on the glass, 37-32.
Ellis scored 13 and Parker added nine for a team that made 23-of-47 shots.
“Another thing that separates us, a lot of teams when they have good players, it builds jealousy,” Hutchison said. “There’s no jealousy on this team. We all have each other’s backs and want to see the best for everyone.”
Twenty-eight of Morgantown’s 51 field-goal attempts were threes.
DeVries led MHS with 15 points and made 4-of-5 triples.
“You have on games and off games, and I just happened to have one of my better offensive games,” DeVries said. “This team made it very easy for me to fit in.”
Kayli Kellogg added 11 in defeat, but shot 19 times and did not have a first-half field goal.
“My main goal was to keep her from scoring,” Hutchison said. “A lot of their offense is through Kayli so if I could contain her, it would force other people to score that don’t have as good of a chance to score.”
Class AAAA all-tournament team
Jaycee Elzy, St. Albans
Jeriyah Pryor, George Washington
Dria Parker, Spring Valley
Brooklyn Ellis, Spring Valley
Sadaya Jones, Morgantown
Allie Daniels, Spring Valley
Kayli Kellogg, Morgantown
Most Outstanding Player: Sophi Hutchison, Spring Valley