By Ken Lay
Another basketball season produced another Knox County Middle School Tournament for the West Valley Middle School Lady Wolves.
The Lady Wolves, the defending Class AAA State Champions, outlasted Hardin Valley, 53-43, Wednesday night at South-Doyle Middle School. It was West Valley’s sixth county tournament championship in eight years. The Lady Wolves have also appeared in seven of the last tournament title games.
West Valley (28-0) hasn’t lost a game since the 2024-25 season, and that setback came in its Christmas Tournament last season. The Lady Wolves have been a dominant force since the school opened its doors in 1993.
Three coaches, including Tim Goddard, Alex Comer and current head coach Josh Ballard (formerly at Cedar Bluff Middle), have guided the Lady Wolves to Knox County Tournament Titles.
“West Valley is a well-established program. It was a good program before I got here,” Ballard said. “It’s a good program with me here, and it will be a good program after I leave.
“We have great kids, we have great parents, and the one person who doesn’t get enough credit is my assistant coach, Scott Wilson. He’s been with me for nine years.”
The head coach noted that the key to his team’s recent success is his players. The Lady Wolves have exhibited the willingness to play unselfishly. And many of his past players who played at Bearden High after their middle school careers ended have gone on to play different sports in college.
Avery Treadwell is now playing basketball at Florida State, and Brinley Murphy is playing soccer in the SEC at Florida after beginning her collegiate career at South Carolina.
“We’ve had Avery Treadwell, who is playing basketball at Florida State, and we had Brinley Murphy, who was the top (high school) soccer player in the state,” Ballard said. “And this year, our girls have had to make sacrifices.
“(Against Hardin Valley), I had a girl, Reese Davis, who came in off the bench and hit big shots in the second quarter.”
Davis scored all seven of her points in the second stanza, helping the Lady Wolves open a 25-18 lead by halftime.
The Lady Wolves also share the ball well.
Reese Underwood led West Valley’s balanced scoring attack in the county championship game as she finished with 12 points, while Emery Cooper, a three-year starter, added 11 points. Davis and Janiya Turner finished with seven points each.
The Lady Hawks, however, proved to be a formidable foe Wednesday night as they kept things close throughout much of the contest.
“Hardin Valley is a good basketball team, and they’re extremely well-coached,” Ballard said. “They’ve won a lot of basketball games.
“I think they’re like 23-4.”
The Lady Hawks’ Reese Galloway scored a game-high 23 points on Knox County’s grand stage.
