By Kyle Gotimer & Morgan Widdifield
LoCoSports Managing Editor & LoCoSports Copy Editor
Purcellville (January 27, 2016) — The Battle for P’ville. The biggest high school sporting event in Western Loudoun.
The clash between Loudoun Valley High School’s and Woodgrove High School’s boys and girls basketball teams on January 20 led to a split Battle of P’ville with the Viking boys and Wolverine girls winning their respective games.
Viking boys start hot, cool down, finish strong
By Kyle Gotimer
LoCoSports Managing Editor
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In the boys edition of the matchup, Loudoun Valley took an early lead, fought off a Wolverine rally and eventually defeated Woodgrove, 77-69.
“It’s just a great rivalry game,” Loudoun Valley head coach Chad Dawson said. “You saw the atmosphere that was in there. We just weren’t playing our game. I think we settled early because we had a lot of success shooting the ball. We started settling against their zone and we weren’t attacking the glass. We weren’t getting to the rim to get rebounds and that hurt us in the second half.”
“At halftime, we talked about switching up our high post guy,” Dawson said. “We put our leading scorer Jordan Miller there which draws a lot of attention. They did a good job executing what we talked about at halftime.”
The first moments coming out of half were the most vital moments of the game thanks to Loudoun Valley sophomore guard Jalen Williams — who drained three consecutive three-pointers to start the half — giving Loudoun Valley the push they needed to take full control.
“[Jalen]’s a really special player,” Dawson said. “He can hit that shot. He’s crafty.”
But Williams wasn’t the only story of the night. Woodgrove senior forward Prakash Ellis went off — scoring 24 points — making him the leading scorer on the night.
For Loudoun Valley, Williams’ 20 was accompanied by 37 points from non-starters. The big story off the bench was sophomore guard Jordan Miller — who led the Viking non-starters with 16 points. Miller’s play at the high post opened up opportunities beyond the three-point arc.
Norris and Miller have been a big key for Loudoun Valley’s success this season.
“We tell our guys all the time that we have nine or ten guys that could start for us,” Dawson said. “We’re very talented and very deep and that’s a big advantage for us. Lots of times we bring our leading scorer, best athlete and best shooter off the bench. That can present a problem especially if other teams are tired.”
With their 77-69 win, Loudoun Valley claimed the Battle for P’ville and remained undefeated.
“We just have to keep pushing,” Norris said. “It’s great to be undefeated, but we have to look forward and not back. We just have to think about the next game.”
Lady Wolverines pull out close, low-scoring win
By Morgan Widdifield
LoCoSports Copy Editor
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“It was a hard fought game,” Woodgrove head coach Kevin Copley said. “And I think we are very competitive, each group is pretty good, and tonight, I thought the difference was our defense.”
Defense was the major component in the game as only two players scored double digit points for either team.
That was the third time this season that the Lady Vikes (5-2, 10-3) were kept under 40 points, with all three games being losses. Forty is the magic number for the Wolverines (3-0, 10-4) as well. In eight of their ten wins, Woodgrove kept their opponents to under 40 points.
The Woodgrove girls will host Loudoun County on February 2 while the boys travel to Leesburg. The Loudoun Valley boys will travel to Freedom on February 2 while the Lady Vikes play host to the Lady Eagles.
Loudoun Valley Vikings Stats
Jalen Williams 20 points, 1 steal, 4 assists, 2-for-6 free throws
Jordan Miller 16 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 assist, 1-for-3 free throws
Dominic Peterson 14 points, 1 steal, 5-for-7 free throws
Trey McDyre 10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 assists, 3-for-4 free throws
Nick Ball 8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 blocked shot, 4 assists, 1-for-2 free throws
Duron Norris 7 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3-for-3 free throws
Jason Yoxthimer 2 points, 1 rebound, 2 blocked shots, 0-for-2 free throws
Jamir Degree 1 steal, 2 assists
LVHS Totals
77 points, 13 rebounds, 3 turnovers, 8 steals, 15 assists, 3 blocked shots, 15-for-27 free throws
Woodgrove Wolverines Stats
Prakash Ellis 24 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 blocked shots, 3 assists, 8-for-9 free throws
Carl Huber 14 points, 1 rebound, 6-for-7 free throws
Dawson Brown 11 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2-for-2 free throws
Owen Fuller 11 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 3-for-4 free throws
Oliver Kline 5 points, 6 rebounds, 3-for-6 free throws
Anthony Williams 3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 blocked shot, 0-for-1 free throw
Zack Lockhart 1 rebound, 2 assists
WGHS Totals
69 points, 19 rebounds, 10 turnovers, 4 steals, 7 assists, 3 blocked shots, 22-for-30 free throws
Woodgrove Lady Wolverines Stats per Legit Sport Stats
Jess Hornyak 10 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 8-for-10 free throws
Kaleigh Owen 7 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 2-for-3 free throws
Hallie Daughtry 6 points, 4 rebounds
Jordan Wick 5 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 assist, 5-for-6 free throws
Puneet Kaur 4 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 2-for-2 free throws
Camryn Fagan 4 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 assists
Madi White 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocked shots
Lilly Forrester 5 rebounds
Lexi Trombley 1 rebound, 1 steal
WGHS Totals
36 points, 38 rebounds, 17 turnovers, 9 steals, 3 assists, 2 blocked shots, 17-for-21 free throws
Loudoun Valley Lady Vikings Stats per Legit Sport Stats
Emily Thompson 10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 blocked shot, 2 assists, 3-for-6 free throws
Celine Fink 5 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 assist, 1-for-2 free throws
Lindsey Sweet 5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 3-for-4 free throws
Mar Keane 5 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocked shots, 3-for-4 free throws
Alex Van Zandt 2 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal
Olivia Badura 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 2-for-2 free throws
Grace Kopf 1 rebound, 1 steal
Riley Herr 1 steal
LVHS Totals
29 points, 23 rebounds, 18 turnovers, 8 steals, 5 assists, 3 blocked shots, 12-for-18 free throws
