Purcellville, Va. — In just their second game of the 2025-2026 season, the Woodgrove High School girls basketball team hosted rival Loudoun Valley in a girls/boys double-header. Despite fighting to go up by one point with only one minute remaining, the Wolverines eventually fell 55-51. Six weeks later when it was the Vikings’ turn to host, the Wolverines had one thing on their mind: revenge.
“We lost last time, so we were coming for vengeance,” Woodgrove junior guard Mya Bundick said. “My motivation was us losing, so I wanted to win really bad.”
After a back-and-forth start to the game, Woodgrove pulled away thanks to a 6-0 run to end the first quarter. The Wolverines continued to build on that momentum, leading by as many as 19.
But the Vikings were not going down without a fight. An 18-point performance in the fourth quarter—including 12 unanswered points—brought Loudoun Valley within 6 at one point; however, it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit, as the Wolverines claimed the 57-50 victory on January 16 in Purcellville.
“We played them a month ago, and what was not too surprising was that they’re a better team now, and we’re a better team now. So both teams have improved in the last month, and that’s what good teams do: keep getting better,” Woodgrove head coach Derek Fisher said. “We weren’t surprised by that, so we knew we had to simplify and be solid.”
After Loudoun Valley senior guard Alyssa Tribino (12 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal) scored off the opening tip, Woodgrove sophomore guard Ellie Jeffers (8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks) immediately countered with a 3-pointer. A missed shot on the Vikings’ end allowed Woodgrove senior forward Rowan Newell (5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block) to get to the basket on the Wolverines’ next possession, but Tribino answered with a couple triples in response to Newell and again to Woodgrove junior guard May Marsh (11 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 steal) to even the score at 8-8.
Jeffers knocked down another three, but back-to-back Loudoun Valley baskets by senior forward Payton Mandichak (9 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals) and senior forward Maggie Mills (7 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals) put the Vikings back on top temporarily.
On the next Woodgrove drive, Bundick (21 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block) made it to the basket and collected an and-one to give the Wolverines a slight edge. Although Mandichak neutralized the score once more with another layup, Bundick took control for the remainder of the quarter, going on a 6-0 run behind a steal from senior forward Lyla Brown (12 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal) and rebounds and an assist from junior forward Bekah Rohs (3 rebounds, 1 assist).
“It’s always a fun game playing against Valley. The environment is amazing. They’re our rivals, and I’ve been playing against them since I was in third or fourth grade,” Bundick said. “I came to the game nervous, as anybody would. My mom always tells me, ‘If you’re nervous, you care.’ But I really wanted to win.”
“End of quarters has been a problem for us. We’ve been trying to work on that a little bit, just understanding the situations,” Fisher said. “It’s one of those things where shot selection becomes important. You have to change your possessions at that point in the game.”
After a couple unsuccessful trips up and down the court to start the second quarter, Marsh knocked down a free throw and Brown collected a couple rebounds before finding the hoop, as the Wolverines extended their lead to 23-14. Tribino countered with a basket and Mills contributed a free throw to bring it back within 6. But turnovers plagued the Vikings through the middle stretch, as the Wolverines scored seven unanswered points to go up 30-17.
The teams traded free throws to end the half, as Woodgrove took the 32-21 lead into the locker room.
“Even though we are a three-point shooting team, there’s a time to just put your head down and get to the free throw line,” Fisher said. “We could have cashed in a little bit better than we usually do, but that was a big part of [building on the lead].”
A Mandichak steal that led to a Mills put-away brought the game back to a single-digit deficit to start the second half. After Bundick found Brown outside the arc for three, Loudoun Valley junior guard Jordan Phillips (8 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) responded with a triple of her own to bring it to 35-26.
But that’s as close as the Vikings would come until later in the fourth quarter, as Woodgrove took over on the boards. Bundick—who posted the game’s only double-double—recorded 5 of her game-high 12 rebounds in the third quarter, while Marsh also contributed three. From there, Bundick controlled the pace of the game: finding open lanes, making it to the basket, and distributing the ball to open teammates for the assist.
“Most of the time, I’m looking for an open lane. If I can’t find one, I’m trying to find my teammates an open shot,” Bundick said. “We run an offense where we move around a lot to help create open lanes.”
Bundick, Brown, and Marsh scored all of the Wolverines’ points in the third quarter to give them a 17-point cushion heading into the final frame.
“We have three players who have been in every kind of big game there is. They’re not perfect, but they’re not gonna get rattled very easily, and all of them can come through like they did today, hitting the big shots when we really needed it,” Fisher said. “Our other senior Rowan, who’s a soccer player, is out there giving us athleticism, and she played great defense today, rebounding and making effort plays. We only went about seven or eight deep tonight, but we have a lot of other weapons and we have confidence in all of them. Obviously, we’re going to play off of those three experienced players. We have three kids who were on the court when we won the state championship game, so we’re going to rely a lot on them, but they need support. There’s no three players anywhere who can win a game; it takes an entire team.”
After Bundick connected on a basket early in the fourth quarter to put Woodgrove up by 19, the Wolverines were aiming to eat clock for the remainder of the game to seal the win. However, Phillips hit a three on the next Loudoun Valley possession, and then Tribino connected for two a couple plays later. Mandichak made 3-of-4 free throws and also added a put-back after an offensive board, as the Vikings put the pressure on and forced five Woodgrove turnovers.
“What we were trying to do was run some clock a little bit on the possession. We got it up to 19 as the biggest lead, and so we were like, ‘At this point, if we’re smart, they may not even have enough possessions to score 19 points’,” Fisher said. “We didn’t do a great job at the end. They forced a bunch of turnovers. Sometimes when a team is red hot, the way to hold them off is just play offense for a while, don’t let them get the ball back. But they got the ball back quickly several times, both by their effort and our breakdowns.”
Mandichak and Mills contributed four rebounds apiece to the team-high 11 Loudoun Valley rebounds in the fourth quarter. Phillips capped off the Vikings’ 12-0 run with a layup from junior guard Hailey Dunkerley (12 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 1 steal) to bring the score to 51-44. But time was running out, so the Vikings then looked to foul to stop the clock.
“All we were trying to do was be smart with it and try to get into a foul situation. With about four minutes to go, they still had no team fouls,” Fisher said. “And so in that area, you can really shorten the game, and that’s what we were trying to do.”
Marsh—who was 2-for-8 from the charity stripe at the time—went to the line first and knocked down both attempts. After a couple misses from Bundick, the Vikings got the ball back and Dunkerley hit a deep three to close the gap to 6.
“Loudoun Valley is the type of team that if you make a mistake, they’re gonna make you pay for it. They forced a lot of mistakes from us, but we were pretty solid for most of the game,” Fisher said. “Then in the fourth quarter, they did what good teams do and really got us out of what we wanted to do, and that’s why it got close.”
Brown and Marsh both converted on each of their subsequent free throw attempts to bring it back to a double digit deficit at 57-47. Although Dunkerley made it to the basket in traffic and converted on an and-one, it was too late for the Vikings to do any more damage, and the Wolverines picked up the 57-50 win.
“They’re one of the best teams in our region, so this win really helps us prepare for our district. We also have to play County, who’s a very good team; they’re similar to Valley,” Bundick said. “So this win helps us prepare more for our district, and we’ll probably see them again in the region tournament.”
Loudoun Valley (2-1, 10-4) will look to bounce back when they host Loudoun County on January 21 and Park View on January 23. Woodgrove (0-0, 8-4) will be immediately back in action when they face Hayfield on January 17 and then return home against Rock Ridge on January 21 and Tuscarora on January 23.
“The teams [in the region]are similar to what I said earlier about Loudoun Valley, that if you make a mistake, you’re gonna pay for that. So it starts with being solid in what you’re doing. They’re gonna force you into some mistakes; that’s inevitable. But if you’re making unforced errors, you really have no chance to beat those teams,” Fisher said. “So honestly, it’s tightening up everything that we do because there’s some players who are gonna make plays that you can’t stop, so you can’t give them anything easy. That’s what we’re gonna be trying to do is make them earn everything they get because they’re gonna get some that we can’t defend, and that was tonight.”
Sam Mesecar captured 150+ photos at the game!
Woodgrove Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Mya Bundick | 21 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3-for-5 |
| Lyla Brown | 12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4-for-6 |
| May Marsh | 11 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6-for-12 |
| Ellie Jeffers | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0-for-0 |
| Rowan Newell | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Bekah Rohs | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Total | 57 | 29 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 13-for-23 |
Loudoun Valley Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Alyssa Tribino | 12 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Hailey Dunkerley | 12 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4-for-7 |
| Payton Mandichak | 9 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3-for-4 |
| Jordan Phillips | 8 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Maggie Mills | 7 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1-for-4 |
| Tenley Mandichak | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Vanesa Vangjeli | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Brianna Tribino | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Total | 50 | 24 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 8-for-15 |