“It was really hard because I wasn’t allowed to say anything for a week,” Warner said. “Mrs. Akers came to my house last Sunday and told me about it, but I had to wait because there’s a rule about when it can go public.

“So I was thrilled, but I was about to go crazy. It’s a dream come true.”

The postseason honors are the culmination of a career that began in the backyard and progressed to great heights for the 5-foot-7-inch outside hitter/defensive specialist.

“I actually started playing matches in the fifth grade, but I really started before that at my house,” Warner recalled. “My mom was really into volleyball, and she put a net up for me, so I’ve been playing volleyball since I was a little girl.”

Warner went on to become perhaps Valley’s most versatile player ever. She finished with the career record for digs with 1,355 and the single-season record for digs with 510 this year, which ranked 10th in the state. Yet, she’s also blessed with incredible leaping ability, and she blasted 325 kills this year with a .238 hitting percentage. She also had a 95 percent serve reception rate with only 25 errors in 525 reception attempts as the Blackhawks went 21-12 and spent the season ranked in the top 10 of the Class A rankings.

Ironically, she didn’t start as ...

FRENCH LICK — The seventh-ranked Perry Central Commodores were odds-on favorites to capture the Sectional 40 crown after knocking off Linton last week and they left nothing to chance Friday night at Death Valley.

With the newly-opened casino as the backdrop, the Commodores rolled to a 21-0 halftime lead before dealing the Springs Valley Blackhawks a season-ending 41-0 setback.

“We’ve got to give Perry Central a lot of credit,” Valley coach Mark Hammond said. “They’ve just got a heck of a ballclub right now and their size really kind of overpowered us. We managed to hang with them and hang with them, but what it boiled down to was we just couldn’t get anything going offensively and they just wore us down and that was pretty much it.”

The Hawks entered the contest knowing they’d have to stop junior Bo Gibson, who ran for 188 yards and three touchdowns in the Commodores’ 38-7 win over Valley on Oct. 6. But with a full house on the visiting sideline, Gibson stole the show once again, racking up 286 yards on 27 carries, while scoring the first five touchdowns.

“The Gibson kid is a big part of their offense and he’s a good back,” Hammond said. “He wore us down, but the biggest thing I think, was their size. That’s what hurt us the most.” With junior Joey Piper, who comes in at 6-foot-1, 350 pounds, solidifying the offensive line, and little brother Robbie, a 6-3, 375-pound sophomore, anchoring the defensive front, the Commodores had their way with the Hawks up front.

Valley’s defense held on the opening possession, but the ...

Gibson finished with five touchdowns, rushing for 281 yards on 27 carries as Perry Central (10-1) advanced to next Friday's regional title game at eighth-ranked Fountain Central (11-1).

Gibson scored on runs of 3, 1, 1, 62 and 84 yards. Meanwhile, Perry Central's defense held Springs Valley to just 99 yards of offense, all on the ground.

Springs Valley finished 7-4.

FRENCH LICK — Many folks in French Lick have been eagerly anticipating the opening of the new casino this week, but the buzz around Springs Valley High School has been about the upcoming football game.

The Blackhawks will entertain seventh-ranked Perry Central in the Sectional 40 championship game Friday night at Death Valley.

The Commodores escaped with a hard-fought 21-14 victory over Linton last week, while the Hawks are coming off a 28-6 drubbing of North Daviess, a win that secured Valley a spot in the sectional final for the first time since the year 2000.

The Hawks suffered a 14-8 setback to Perry Central on the same date (Nov. 3) six years ago and they’ll need an all-around team effort Friday night if they hope to ...

ELNORA — When it comes sectional time, the name of the game is survive and advance, and it was definitely survival of the fittest at North Daviess High School Friday night where the Springs Valley Blackhawks braved the conditions and came away with a decisive 28-6 victory over the Cougars to advance to the Sectional 40 finale.

The Cougars got on the board with less than three minutes gone in the opening quarter, but the Hawks pitched a shutout the rest of the way, scoring 20 points in the worst of conditions during the second half.

“Our defense has been playing really well and we knew North Daviess was going to come out ready to play,” Valley coach Mark Hammond said. “They came out with great emotion and great intensity and got one on us early, but our kids, like they’ve done all year, they didn’t quit. We knew it was going to be a long game and our defense kept us right there until our offense got going, so it was really a big night for us.”

With water already standing on the field and gusting winds driving a steady rain, it was more like sink or swim at times and the Hawks found themselves treading water early when North Daviess junior Deven Shake took a handoff from Garrett Byrer and set sail around left end for a 68-yard touchdown at the 9:07 mark of the first quarter.

The Hawks failed to record a first down on their first two possessions, but junior Taylor Wilkinson picked off a Byrer pass midway through the first quarter and Valley had the upper hand the rest of the way.

After racking up first downs on runs by Chris Walker and Luke Allstott, Valley was forced to punt, but the Hawks’ defense refused to budge and when the Cougars attempted to punt the ball back from their own 26, the snap from center sailed over the head of Byrer, who smartly kicked the ball out of the end zone for a safety.

The free kick gave the Hawks the ball on the North Daviess 37 and they needed just two plays to find the end zone as Brant Crowder went up the middle, breaking tackles at the line and in the defensive backfield before rambling 34 yards for the score that gave Valley an 8-6 edge at the half.

With the conditions rapidly deteriorating, Hammond felt confident with the slim lead at the half.

“At halftime we talked about having the lead and we knew that’s all we needed,” Hammond said. “I really didn’t think we’d get too close to the end zone in the second half, but we knew if we kept them from scoring we were going to win the game. “But a credit to our offensive line and our backs, they ran extremely hard the second half. I don’t know if they just got used to the conditions or what, but they did a really nice job of running the ball and just hanging on to it.”

Allstott picked off a pass midway through the third quarter and returned it to the North Daviess nine-yard line and Crowder found the end zone three plays later to push the Valley lead to eight.

Dustin Land scored on a quarterback sneak with 8:59 to play and Crowder capped the scoring with a 48-yard scamper at the 2:01 mark.

The Hawks and Cougars combined to put the ball on the ground 10 times, but the lone turnover for Valley came on their only pass attempt in the contest, midway through the ...

ORLEANS — Springs Valley’s volleyball squad fought through a close five-game series to take a 16-25, 25-12, 26-28, 25-16, 15-12 win over Orleans during round two of Sectional 59 Wednesday night.

“We played Orleans in the regular season, and it was just like this, except that we lost the first two,” said Valley coach Leslie Akers. “Orleans just kept digging and setting and hitting, so they just don’t quit. They’re a good team.”

Darcie Warner led the Blackhawks’ offensive attack with 18 kills and an ace, while Cecilia Joffee added 10 kills, two aces, one solo block and three block assists.

“We were really never able to let Darcie showcase her skills tonight,” Akers said. “We didn’t get her set as often as we could, but if we had, there would have been a lot more of those balls that she absolutely hammered.”

Skylar Stephenson tallied nine kills and five block assists, while senior Victoria VanderPan racked up 35 assists, seven block assists and an ace.

“I think our seniors were really tight,” Akers said. “It means so much to them. I told them before we came out that they should not pray for things to be easy. They should pray for the strength to get the job done.”

It was the Blackhawks’ use of their ...