Ella Giles owns a championship ring for each hand.
Giles helped Spring Valley to a Class AAAA girls state championship Saturday at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center. As a freshman on the same floor, she won a title with Huntington High.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œTheyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re both special,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Giles said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œI feel so much love for both of these teams. TheyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re different because at Huntington High it was winning it with my family. At Spring Valley, itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s winning it with some of my best friends. It means a lot both ways.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Giles said she didnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t transfer to play for a better team. The Highlanders finished 5-16, a rare rough season for a traditional state power.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIt wasnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t for basketball purposes,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Giles said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œI let everybody know that. A lot of people think I left to get a ring. Somebody said that to me before. It was hard for me to leave because I love everybody. Mentally, I thought it would be better for me to come to a different school and thatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s why I picked Valley.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
GilesÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s dad Reggie won a Southern Conference championship in football at Marshall University, where her teammate Dria ParkerÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s father Jimmy won Mid-American Conference titles. Now Ella and Dria, each of whom signed with West Liberty University, share a championship.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s really cool,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Giles said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œNow weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re going to college together. I hope we can win some more together. I love Dria. We play really well together IÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™m excited for the next four years with her.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
The feeling is mutual, even though Giles helped Huntington High upset the Timberwolves 51-49 in the 2024 state tournament.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œElla played really well,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Dria said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œShe does so many things that donÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t show up on the stat sheet. SheÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a great passer and keeps the team up. ItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s not all about scoring. She can score but she doesnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t have to on this team.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Spring Valley center Allie Daniels expressed similar sentiments.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œSheÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a hustle player,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Daniels said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œSheÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a key to our team. She keeps everybody up and we really appreciate that.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Giles scored 15 points in the 2025 quarterfinals, an 88-36 rout of Spring Mills. Her scoring wasnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t as gaudy in an 83-49 victory over St. Albans or in the 62-55 win over Morgantown but her defense, rebounding and passing were stellar.
MUTUAL ADMIRATION: Wayne County girls basketball programs Wayne and Spring Valley won state titles and provided several interesting story lines:
Spring Valley junior Brooklyn Ellis joined her dad Jeremy as a state champion. He won a title with Vinson.
Wayne coach Wade Williamson correctly predicted Spring ValleyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s championship game triumph over Morgantown after being told the Pioneers, Class AAA titlist, were the first Wayne County girls basketball team since Buffalo in 1993 to win it all.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œOh wow, I didnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t realize that,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Williamson said Saturday. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe were just keeping our head down and I didnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t even know that. ItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s big for the county. IÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™m going to go ahead and call our shot on Spring Valley. TheyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re going to win tonight too, and weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re just going to go ahead and take a double back to Wayne County. We hope, anyway.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThe people in the county, theyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re such community people, so it does mean a lot to Wayne County.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™m good friends with Bo and IÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™m good friends with (Tolsia coach) Ric (Morrone), and so we talk a lot, time to time. ItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a good relationship. WeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve played Tolsia some, weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve never really played Spring Valley, but we kind of root for each other and a lot of the girls have played a lot of basketball with those girls at Spring Valley on AAU teams and other things, so thereÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s quite a bit of familiarity there, yes.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Wayne star Addie Adkins said she was thrilled for the Timberwolves.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œAt the end of the day, weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re all family, weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re all community, we all live in the same county, so no matter what happens, I know Valley would support us if we lost, and we would support them if they won or lost, too,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Adkins said.
AMAZING STATS OF THE WEEK: Former Spring Valley softball star Jenna Christopher of Shawnee State University went 8 for 8 in a doubleheader against Indiana-Southeast. Wayne girls basketballÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Addie Adkins scored her 1,000th career point, joining her sister Brooke and mother Kara as Pioneers to reach that mark.
Fairland won its fifth consecutive powerlifting state championship Saturday. Wheeling Central girls basketballÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Kaitlyn Blake scored 2,005 points in her career without attempting a 3-point shot. PortsmouthÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s girls 28 victories this basketball season set a record for girls or boys at the school. The Trojans boys won 27 in 1988.
COACH SPEAK: Ironton hall of famer Rick Howard coached Heritage High School in Maryville, Tennessee, to a girls basketball state championship. Former St. Albans girls basketball coach Rick Steele is the head girls coach at Huntington Expression Prep.
Recruiting roundup
SIGNINGS: Portsmouth trackÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Chase Heiland (Shawnee State).
COMMITMENTS: Volleyball player Sophie Jones, daughter of former Marshall University menÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s basketball and current Stetson coach Donnie Jones (Stetson).
OFFERS: Ironton footballÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Kayden Edwards (North Alabama). Cabell Midland trackÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Matthew Edwards (Eastern Kentucky). Former Hurricane football player LaRon Dues of Cardinal Mooney High in Sarasota, Florida (James Madison).
VISITS: Coal Grove footballÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Caden Turner (Marshall). Dues (Ohio State).
NOTES, QUOTES, ANECDOTES: Spring Valley and Wayne became the first girls basketball teams in West Virginia from the same county to win a state championship in the same season since 2017 when Cabell County teams Huntington High and Huntington St. Joe did it.
The Ohio Valley Conference boys and girls all-star basketball games are Tuesday at Fairland High School. The girls game is at 6 p.m., followed by the boys contest. FairlandÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Jon Buchanan and PortsmouthÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Amy Hughes will coach the girls. ChesapeakeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Steven Ater and FairlandÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Nathan Speed lead the boys.
Cincinnati Purcell MarionÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Dee Alexander was named Ohio girls high school basketball player of the year for the third consecutive season. ZaKiyah Johnson of Louisville Sacred Heart took the honor in Kentucky. Carson Godfrey, son of former Huntington Cubs pitcher Tyson Godfrey, broke the Olympia (Washington) High School shot put record with a throw of 56 feet, 10 inches. The mark had stood since 1958.
