It was another thriller at the Ladies Classic as Spring Valley, W.Va., held off Morristown West at the buzzer and escaped with a 71-70 victory.

The game was nip-and-tuck from the outset, with the score tied at the rest stop of the first two quarters, including 36-36 at intermission. Spring Valley moved ahead by one at the end of three, but it was not until the final horn sounded that a winner was determined.

The Trojans seemed to be in control when they moved to a 66-59 lead with 3:30 left to play, but the Wolves would have none of that as they went on a 10-0 run behind the scoring antics of Sophie Hutchison to regain the advantage at 69-66 with 1:35 left to play.

Here came the Trojans back. A free throw by Jhaniya Mitchell answered by two free tosses by Brooklyn Ellis of the Wolves had the West Virginians up 71-67 with 32 seconds left. Kinleigh Holt came through with a 3-pointer at the 21 second mark to cut the gap to 71-70.

Spring Valley gave West the final chance by throwing the pass out of bounds as they moved into front court with nine seconds to go But the Trojans could not get the game-winner, as the last second shot by Mitchell bounced away.
Hutchison, a LaSalle University signee, had another stellar performance with 28 points for Spring Valley with six assists and seven steals. Ellis was just a step back with 20 points and nine rebounds.
Morristown West got 22 points and nine rebounds from Mitchell, 13 points from Maddie Simpson while Holt chipped in with 11.

Spring Valley (71): Sophie Hutchison 10-23 5-5 28, Edwards 2-8 2-2 6, Perdue 2-8 0-0 4, Brooklyn Ellis 5-14, 8-10 20, Jackson 2-9 0-0 5, Davis 1-5 0-0 2, Cook 0-1 0-0 0, Meadows 2-2 0-0 6. TOTALS: 24-70 15-17 71.

Morristown West (70): Jhaniya Mitchell 8-15 6-8 22, Murray 3-10, 1-2 8, Bohanon 1-4 0-0 3, Dinkins 2-4 0-0 6, Simpson 1-6 0-2 2, Marshall 2-3 0-0 5, Kinleigh Holt 4-5 0-0 11, M.Simpson 5-9 3-7 13. TOTALS: 26-66 10-19 70.

3-Point Goals: SV—8 (Hutchison 3, Ellis 2,, Meadows 2, Jackson). MW—8 (Holt 3, Dinkins 2, Murray, Bohanon, Marshall).

Score by quarters:
Spring Valley 17 19 17 18–71
Morr. West 17 19 17 17–70