In Wayne County, football rules

HUNTINGTON -- With the end of June upon us, the 2008-09 school year is officially coming to a close. This week, the top prep sports moments from the year will be highlighted by area.

With 14 sports available for each team, not all the memories can be touched on, but here are the best of the best from 2008-09.

Today, we look at Wayne County, where there were several things to celebrate throughout the year. Later this week, we will also check out the top moments from Putnam County and Ohio schools.

FOOTBALL

Wayne County football is its own brand, and the three county schools proved as much this year, combining for an overall record of 23-11.

The Wayne Pioneers continued a decade of dominance in Class AA, making it to the state semifinals for the fifth straight season before running into a buzzsaw on the road against eventual state champion Grafton.

The Pioneers finished 11-2 while getting one of the most exciting wins of the season in the second round of the playoffs, a 42-35 win over juggernaut Bluefield when Wayne survived a fourth-quarter rally.

Spring Valley was building tradition while Wayne was continuing success.

After a much-ballyhooed coaching decision, Spring Valley first-year coach Brad Dingess showed all doubters that the Wayne County Board of Education made the right decision by leading the Timberwolves to the Class AAA playoffs.

Spring Valley finished the year 7-4 with its three regular season losses coming to Cabell Midland in overtime, to South Charleston and George Washington -- both of which ended up in the state championship game.

The Timberwolves' season ended with a 35-14 playoff loss to University, but the benchmark had been set for future seasons and memories of amassing just seven wins in the previous three years were erased.

Tolsia started the season with three straight wins, but a treacherous schedule took its toll down the stretch. Of the Rebels' last seven opponents, three made it to the state semifinals in their respective classes with two playing in the championship games -- Class AA runner-up Magnolia, Class A state champion Williamstown and Class AA semifinalist Wayne.

The Rebels lost three of their last four games, including a 43-26 season-ending loss at home to Oak Glen which ended Tolsia's season at 5-5.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Success was once again the theme for all three county teams as all three schools finished above .500 for the first time since Spring Valley came into existence.

Led by Jeremy Adkins, the Timberwolves finally got over the hump against Huntington High in the section semifinals and went on to win the Class AAA, Region IV, Section 2 title with a triple-overtime win over Cabell Midland.

However, the Timberwolves could not overcome a sluggish start and a hot-shooting Winfield team in the region semifinal as Spring Valley's season ended there at 17-7.

Wayne experienced a winning season for the first time since 1985-86 -- current head coach Duane Tabor's senior season.

Neil Dillon led the Wayne attack along with Brandon Sutherland and Chase Perry. The Pioneers finished 13-11 with seven losses coming by 10 points or less.

Two of those close losses came to Tolsia, who ushered in the Jason Hatfield coaching era with a 12-11 record.

Adkins was a Class AAA first-team all-state selection while Dillon was Class AA all-state first-team as well.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

As has become the norm in recent years, Tolsia advanced to the state tournament in girls basketball and nearly pulled an upset in the first round of action in Charleston.

The Rebels knocked off No. 3 Scott in the Class AA, Region II, Section 2 championship then defeated Poca to advance to the state tournament where they fell to Sissonville, 39-37, in heartbreaking fashion.

Karli Purvis hit a shot that would have sent the game to overtime, but it was deemed that the shot did not come before the buzzer, ending the Rebels' season at 16-10.

Wayne nearly ended Tolsia's season in the sectionals when the Pioneers led by five heading into the fourth quarter of their sectional matchup. However, the Rebels rallied to tie the score at 65 before sneaking away with the win.

The Pioneers ended the season 14-9 with three of the losses coming to Tolsia -- two of which came by two points in overtime.

After starting the year 6-1, Spring Valley struggled down the stretch in the vaunted Mountain State Athletic Conference. The Timberwolves finished 11-14 in Bo Miller's first season as head coach.

Boys tennis

Spring Valley High School does not have a tennis court of its own to play home matches.

However, it does have the state champion at No. 1 singles.

Ross Evans not only took Spring Valley to the state tournament in tennis for the first time, he gave the school its first singles champion when he beat Washington's Jacob Jones, 6-0, 6-1.

Evans also teamed with Corey Whitlock to advance to the No. 1 singles championship before falling to George Washington's tandem of Chris Pratt and Cameron Harmon.

Baseball

Wayne returned to the forefront of Class AA baseball in 2009, making it to the Class AA, Region IV region final before losing to Sissonville.

The Pioneers started the year out by winning nine of its first 10 games, and ended the season 17-11 while playing a tough schedule that featured several Class AAA teams.

Spring Valley had a season of what-could have-beens in 2009, finishing 11-12 with several close losses.

The Timberwolves pushed Cabell Midland to the brink in the sectional championship, but ended the season with yet another close loss, 2-1.

Interestingly enough, Spring Valley's best baseball came on the road in 2009. The Timberwolves had just one win to its credit at home on the year -- that coming in a sectional elimination victory against Huntington High.

Softball

Spring Valley had one of the most potent lineups around the state with several seniors and power from spots one to nine in the order.

However, consistency proved to be the downfall as the Timberwolves stumbled in the section final during a 9-3 loss to Cabell Midland.

The loss to Cabell Midland came just two hours after Spring Valley had put up 18 runs on Huntington High to eliminate the defending two-time champs.

As for Wayne, it isn't often a team can lose the first 14 games of the season and call itself a region semifinalist, but that's exactly what the Pioneers achieved.

The first win of the season came over Spring Valley, but from there, the Pioneers kept it going before falling valiantly to eventual state champion Chapmanville 5-0 in the Class AA, Region IV semifinal to end the year at 8-19.

Tolsia nearly achieved a winning record, but a pair of losses to Wayne in the section tournament ended the Rebels' 2009 campaign at an even 10-10-1.

Soccer

Spring Valley's boys soccer team ended the 2008 season at 10-12 under coach Stos Hall, who featured the strong play of T.L Bryant, Evan Bailey and Ty Hall.

Bryant served as the team's leading scorer, but also saw lots of time at keeper, depending on who the Timberwolves' opponent was on a particular day.

On the girls' side, the Timberwolves finished with an impressive 14-5-2 record under coach Jim Hodge.

Volleyball

Wayne made it to the Class AA state volleyball tournament in 2008, but fell in the first-round to state runners-up James Monroe.

Spring Valley enjoyed a successful 2008 campaign also, but missed out on the state tournament as Ripley and Parkersburg advanced from Class AAA, Region IV.

Track and Cross Country

Spring Valley's Savannah Rutherford was one of the area's top runners this year in Class AAA, finishing second in the state meet in the 400-meter dash while also notching fifth in the 200-meter dash.

Wrestling

Spring Valley enjoyed a solid year on the mats, finishing fourth in Region IV behind Cabell Midland, George Washington and Huntington.

Scott Stewart won a regional title at 171 pounds and finished fourth at the state meet.

Golf

Wayne's Taylor Fry and Neil Dillon both qualified for the Class AA state tournament after shooting 82 and 85 respectively in the regional qualifier.