After scoring 40 points in the first half at home against Glenwood City, the Spring Valley Cardinals cruised to a season-high 65 points, which culminated in a 65-39 blowout victory on Friday, Jan. 27.

Spring Valley’s offensive clinic on Friday night was in large part because of the Cardinals’ success from beyond the arc. Spring Valley buried seven three-pointers in the win, four of which came via sophomore forward Audrey Mathison.

For Spring Valley girls basketball head coach Sean Hoolihan, Friday night’s game is an example of what his team is capable of when they’re firing on all cylinders offensively. His young and relatively inexperienced varsity squad often runs hot and cold from the field, so hitting a couple of shots early helped jumpstart the season-best offensive performance.

“Our girls did a good job of taking good shots and it helped that we made some within the first minute,” Hoolihan said after the win. “Right now our group needs that confidence if we’re going to keep making shots. Sometimes when we miss a few, it seems to trickle down to everybody.”

With the win, Spring Valley improved to 5-11 overall and 5-4 in Dunn-St. Croix Conference games. Now above .500 in league play, the Cardinals moved into sole possession of fourth place in the conference standings. Coach Hoolihan spoke about being in the top half of the league this late in the regular season.

“I felt like we would be in this mix and I’m really happy that we’re 5-4 in the conference,” Hoolihan said. “You know Colfax, Elk Mound and Durand are the top three teams in our league. If we make shots and take care of the basketball, I think we can be in any game. If we do that, we can play with those teams.”

Spring Valley certainly did those two things on Friday night and it resulted in the biggest margin of victory of the season. As Hoolihan alluded, Spring Valley’s offense got into a rhythm early against Glenwood City.

No player started hotter from the floor than the aforementioned Mathison, who buried a trio of three-pointers in the first three minutes of the game which helped Spring Valley grab an 11-4 lead.

Glenwood City responded with a run of its own and cut Spring Valley’s lead to one point, 19-18, with just under nine minutes remaining in the first half. That’s when the Cardinals took complete control of the game and outscored the Hilltoppers 21-6 in the final nine minutes of the half.

The Cardinals’ recipe for success was the significant offensive contributions they got from multiple key players. Mathison hit jumpers early and often, junior guard Mara Ducklow got downhill and made a couple of layups and a three-point play the old-fashioned way.

Junior forward Charli Vanasse controlled the paint and scored inside regularly en route to a dozen points in the first half alone. Vanasse and the Cardinals continued their dominance in the early minutes of the second half too.

Vanasse started the second frame with an offensive rebound that she put back in for a layup and then did it again on the ensuing possession. Ducklow got to the free throw line and buried both which gave Spring Valley a 6-0 scoring run to start the second half.

By then the Cardinals were up 46-24 and the rest of the contest essentially became a formality. Spring Valley cruised to the win as Hoolihan put in the reserves with several minutes left to play in regulation.

Vanasse and Mathison led Spring Valley in scoring with 16 each, while Ducklow tallied 13, junior forward Maddie Shafer had nine and senior guard Lydia Hannack had seven. Hoolihan spoke about getting offensive contributions from everyone, not just Ducklow.

“It feels great,” Hoolihan said. “Mara (Ducklow) is our scorer, but it’s not like we’re telling the other girls to not take their opportunities. Fortunately tonight they were going in. Our group is just the type right now where things go well we feed off of it and when they don’t, unfortunately, we feed off of that too.”

When Spring Valley has played well this year, they’ve limited turnovers and valued every possession. However, like a lot of high school basketball teams, the Cardinals are often plagued by turnovers and wasted possessions. For Hoolihan, if his team is going to take that next step and start pushing Colfax, Durand and Elk Mound to the brink, it’s going to require tightening the screws offensively and limiting turnovers.

“We still turn the ball over too much, way too much,” Hoolihan said. “What I like about our group is that they keep working and they’re coachable. We’re frustrated (with the turnovers), but we’re not deterred.”

Spring Valley was back in action on the road against Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran on Monday, Jan. 30. That game was slated to begin at 7:15 p.m.

Spring Valley sophomore forward Audrey Mathison buries a three-pointer during the second half against Glenwood City on Friday, Jan. 27. Mathison finished with 16 points and four made three-pointers. Photo by Reagan Hoverman