The rivalry matchup between the Spring Valley Cardinals and the Elmwood/Plum City Wolves always finds a way to be entertaining down to the closing minutes.

That remained true in the 2022-23 Dunn-St. Croix Conference opener on Thursday, Dec. 1, as Spring Valley made a late secondcomeback and secure a 45-35 win over the rival Wolves, its first victory of the season.

Spring Valley struggled in the first half but managed to keep the game close, as the Cardinals went into the halftime locker room trailing 21-19. However, Spring Valley junior guard Mara Ducklow proved to be the Cardinals’ second-half spark.

Ducklow took the game over in the second half, scoring 18 of her 22 total points in the final 18 minutes of regulation. Ducklow’s scoring surge began just three minutes into the second half when she hit a wing three-pointer. After an EPC miss on the ensuing possession, Ducklow grabbed the rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup to give Spring Valley a 26-25 lead.

Both teams traded blows throughout the middling portion of the second half but in the EPC/SV

closing minutes, Ducklow again proved she was the best player on the floor on Thursday night. With just under 90 seconds to play in regulation, Spring Valley clung to a 36-34 lead.

That’s when Ducklow launched a deep three-pointer, absorbed contact on the contest, made the shot and had the foul called. Spring Valley’s student section erupted in cheers as Ducklow got up and walked to the free throw line to attempt to finish the elusive four-point play.

She buried the free throw along with any chance of an Elmwood/Plum City victory with the game-changing play. The Cardinals held on to win 45-35 and secured their first win of the 2022-23 season. Ducklow led all scorers with 22 points. Spring Valley head coach Sean Hoolihan spoke about the win.

“I feel really good for our kids,” Hoolihan said. “Not to make excuses, but we’ve gone through two weeks of sickness and injury. We haven’t had a full team at practice for two weeks. So to get this win, I’m just really excited for them.”

While it was certainly a team win, no Spring Valley player had more impact than the aforementioned Ducklow. She led the team in scoring, ran the offense as the point guard, had multiple steals on the defensive end, and never came out of the game. Hoolihan spoke about what she does for their team.

“She creates her own shot, she creates shots for teammates and she plays great defense,” Hoolihan said. “She also plays the whole game. I would love to get her more breaks, but she doesn’t want them. Our other girls need to feed more off of her energy because she plays hard the entire game. She’s done a really good job of leading by example and I’m proud of her.”

For as much celebration and excitement as there was in the Spring Valley locker room, there was an equal amount of frustration and disappointment in the Elmwood/Plum City postgame meeting.

The Wolves controlled the entire first half and a good portion of the closing 18 minutes of regulation on the road against Spring Valley. However, Elmwood/Plum City’s costly turnovers in the most critical moments proved to be too much to overcome. EPC head coach Tom Sauve spoke about the loss.

“Just talking with the girls, the turnover piece has been something that has nipped us in all three games this year,” Sauve said. “With the experience we have, we need to limit our turnovers and we’re just not doing that.”

Elmwood/Plum City is likely in a rebuilding year because of the senior talent lost to graduation last season. The most impactful losses thus far have been then-senior ball handler Hailee McDonough and inside post player Maggie Glaus.

With those two impactful seniors gone, Elmwood/Plum City has struggled to put together long stretches of high-quality basketball. Instead, it’s been short bursts of success followed by four or five minutes of turnovers. Sauve spoke about trying to put a full game together.

“We play some long stretches where we play pretty well, and then we have these hiccups where it’s two, three, four turnovers and we’ve got to eliminate that,” Sauve said. “Even though those long stretches are getting better, it’s still not good enough. We need to do more with taking care of the ball and having a good shot selection.”

After Thursday night’s contest, both teams were back in action shortly thereafter. On Saturday, Dec. 3, Spring Valley lost 48-21 against Saint Croix Central to drop to 1-3 for the season while remaining 1-0 in Dunn-St. Croix Conference action. Elmwood/Plum City lost 64-32 in a non-conference game against Eau Claire Regis to drop to 0-4 for the season and remain 0-1 in league play.

Spring Valley continues its season on Friday, Dec. 9, when the Cardinals go to Boyceville for the second conference game of the season. Elmwood/Plum City is slated to host Glenwood City on Friday, Dec. 9. Both games are scheduled to begin at 7:15 p.m.

Elmwood/Plum City senior Hannah Forster drives baseline during the road game against Spring Valley on Thursday, Dec. 1.Photo by Reagan Hoverman