Purcellville, Va. — It’s often said that records mean nothing and anything can happen when it comes to a rivalry game. That proved to be true for the Loudoun Valley High School girls basketball team when they faced off against Woodgrove High School for a non-district girls/boys double header on February 7 in Purcellville.
Although the Wolverines—who are leading the Catoctin District and averaging more than 55 points per game—set the tone early, the Vikings—who were back to full strength after some illnesses this past week—slowly chipped away at the lead and went on an 8-0 run to open the second half to take the lead before holding on for the 36-31 victory.
Woodgrove was led by sophomore guard Mya Bundick (11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal), who struck first with a basket inside. Although Loudoun Valley junior guard Alyssa Tribino (6 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal) answered immediately with a basket of her own, Woodgrove senior forward Valerie Blankenship (6 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks) hit a three-pointer and then made a steal and a layup to put the Wolverines up by 5 early.
After a couple trips up and down the court, the Vikings used a 7-0 run to take their first lead of the night behind baskets from junior forward Payton Mandichak (5 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist), sophomore guard Jordan Phillips (8 points, 3 rebounds), and junior forward Maggie Mills (12 points, 15 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 3 blocks).
But the Wolverines responded to close out the first quarter with another basket from Bundick to tie the game and a three-pointer from freshman guard Katherine Makayla Titus (5 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal) to reclaim the lead, 12-9.
Baskets from Phillips and Tribino put the Vikings back up by 1 early in the second quarter, but a contested layup and a successful and-one from Bundick, along with a three-pointer from sophomore guard May Marsh (9 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals), swung the advantage back in the Wolverines’ favor.
Despite the Marsh three, the Vikings kept the Wolverines off-balance all night, as Woodgrove struggled to find their rhythm from outside the arc.
“Val’s been lighting it up lately. We know May Marsh has been lighting it up lately. I think Alyssa did a great job shutting down Val,” Loudoun Valley head coach Bill Reynolds said. “We put a triangle and two, and we stopped them. We played great defense. I’m proud of how our girls played defense and didn’t give up the whole game.”
After a series of turnovers and unsuccessful shot attempts from both teams, Loudoun Valley junior guard Anna Ramos (5 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal) finally ended the scoring drought with a three-pointer to cut the Woodgrove lead to 2 heading into halftime.
In addition to the tight defense, the Vikings also won on the boards, as Loudoun Valley out-rebounded Woodgrove 50-30 and had three different players with double-digit rebounds, including two guards—Ramos and Tribino—who always seemed to be in the right place at the right time.
“We did a really good job rebounding tonight. That’s what we’ve lacked in some of our losses here recently, so I’m proud of them,” Reynolds said. “Anna has come a long way, and she’s doing a great job rebounding.”
With Tribino focused on defending Blankenship, Phillips often found herself in possession of the ball with open opportunities, which she capitalized on with a three-pointer to start the third quarter.
“Jordan is a great shooter. She’s fast and she dribbles, and we want the ball in her hands,” Reynolds said. “I tell her all the time, ‘Don’t pass the ball, you’re a fast dribbler.’ She’s tough to handle when she’s settled in and locked in.”
Although she had a slow start in the first half, Mills got hot out of the locker room, scoring 10 of her game-high 12 total points and 10 of her game-high 15 rebounds in the second half en route to a double-double performance.
“Maggie, coming off the flu, this is really her first full game back, and I knew nobody can stop her if she goes down low,” Reynolds said. “I think in the first half she was trying to find her shot. In the second half she finally bought into, ‘let’s go down low and let’s do some dominating’, and she was able to rebound, put-back, rebound, put-back.”
Mills contributed 5 of Loudoun Valley’s points during the 8-0 run to open the third quarter. During the remainder of the quarter, the Vikings limited the Wolverines to just 5 points and held a 27-23 advantage heading into the final frame.
After another series of missed shots and turnovers, Blankenship connected on a free throw to open the scoring a couple minutes into the fourth quarter. Then Bundick made a basket off of a steal from senior guard Kate Thurman (8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals) to bring Woodgrove within 1.
But the Wolverines got in foul trouble early in the quarter, sending Mills and Tribino to the free throw line. A rebound and an assist from Ramos to Mandichak gave the Vikings even more of a cushion. And then some solid free throw shooting from Mills down the stretch gave Loudoun Valley its largest lead of the night at 34-26 and then again at 36-28.
“Maggie got to the line, and she made those big free throws down the stretch,” Reynolds said. “That was awesome!”
Although a late three-pointer from Marsh cut the deficit to 5, Woodgrove ran out of time to come back, and Loudoun Valley sealed the 36-31 win.
“You can’t give up [on a team like Woodgrove],” Reynolds said. “We don’t go that deep, so those five know that if they’re on the court, they’re on. And they want to stay on, so when they’re playing together and they’re winning, they want to stay on. It’s hard to pull them off, so you just let them roll, and they did a great job.”
Although the result doesn’t change anything with the district standings, Loudoun Valley (4-2, 11-7) will use the moral victory to propel them through the final week of the regular season, as the Vikings host Dominion on February 11 and Tuscarora on February 13. Woodgrove (6-0, 14-7) will look to close out their district schedule back in the win column when they host Park View and travel to Broad Run on the same nights.
Sam Mesecar captured 150+ photos at the game!
Loudoun Valley Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Maggie Mills | 12 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6-for-10 |
| Jordan Phillips | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Alyssa Tribino | 6 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-4 |
| Anna Ramos | 5 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Payton Mandichak | 5 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Ava Cassella | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 36 | 50 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 9-for-16 |
Woodgrove Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Mya Bundick | 11 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1-for-1 |
| May Marsh | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Valerie Blankenship | 6 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1-for-2 |
| Katherine Makayla Titus | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Kate Thurman | 0 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Rowan Newell | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Lyla Seneca | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Kynza Ingram | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Ellie Jeffers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 31 | 30 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 2-for-3 |