GLENWOOD CITY — Five consecutive road games to start the season for the Spring Valley girls basketball team was no easy task, going 2-3, but they won when it counted, taking a conference win over Glenwood City 56-40 Thursday night.

“I see a group of girls that are just trusting the process, they’re trusting each other and we’re working hard,” Head Coach Sean Hoolihan said. “That’s what it takes to do good things in basketball, in whatever sport you’re playing in, in life.”

The start was interesting for Spring Valley, as the Cardinals attempted eight free throws before either team cashed a field goal, making four to take a 4-0 lead. They expanded on the lead with a couple of threes from freshman Katie Matthys to make it 12-4. Matthys led the team with 20 points on the night and added eight rebounds and four steals.

Glenwood City’s center Isabel Davis gave the Cardinals some trouble, stacking offensive rebounds and second chance points in a 12-point, 10-rebound performance, helping to cut the early lead to 12-10. Coach Hoolihan tasked Audrey Mathison and Addison Neidermyer with guarding Davis, and he was pleased with the way they slowed her down for much of the game, holding Davis to 4-12 shooting.

“Davis is a good player for them, and she has something we don’t have right now and that’s some height,” Hoolihan said.

Spring Valley bounced back, going on a huge run late in the half to take a 31-21 lead with some buckets from freshman Jada Hoolihan. Hoolihan would finish with 19 points and eight rebounds.

From there it was purely coasting for Spring Valley, moving to 1-0 in Dunn-St. Croix Conference play with a road win.

Eight of Spring Valley’s 18 rostered players are freshmen, including top scorers Hoolihan and Matthys, creating the significant need of getting players experience. Coach Hoolihan said the seniors have taken responsibility for it, maintaining high expectations while guiding them to the level they need to be.

“I give credit to our older girls, I give credit to our seniors who are patient with them and expect a lot out of them too,” Hoolihan said. “People usually raise up to the expectations that you give them.”

Teams getting a taste of early season action have seen a lot of positives, but with that comes a list of things they are still looking to improve upon. Spring Valley is no different this year, with Hoolihan already eyeing some targets.

“We have a ton of stuff to get better,” Hoolihan said. “We still have to play better defense, we have to rebound a little bit better and we’ve got to take care of the ball in crucial situations.”

Spring Valley has hung their hats on togetherness and hard work. Through this, they play as one unselfish unit.

“If some girl on our team scores all 50 whatever points for us, as long as our team is winning or doing well, that’s all that matters to us.”