Spring Valley's Clay Robertson (2), center, goes up to shoot as Parkersburg's Zane Lewis (1), right, and Luke Anderson (3) attempt to block during a boys high school basketball game on Tuesday at Spring Valley High School. (Photo by Ryan Fischer/The Herald-Dispatch)

SPRING VALLEY — Perhaps Spring Valley coach Rick Chaffin applied a little WD-40 to his team at halftime.

The Timberwolves shook off considerable rust to defeat Parkersburg 70-53 Tuesday in the Class AAAA, Region IV boys high school basketball co-final at the Wolves Den. Spring Valley moves on to the state tournament next week in Charleston against an opponent to be determined.

“We hadn’t played for two-and-a-half weeks,” Chaffin said. “It was tough.”

Spring Valley last played Feb. 22 when it beat George Washington for the Mountain State Athletic Conference championship. The rust was evident in the first half as the Timberwolves (19-2) and Big Reds (4-15) were tied 10-10 after one quarter and Spring Valley led just 25-23 at halftime.

“Our guys found out they were in a ballgame the first half,” Chaffin said. “Parkersburg played really well the first two quarters. In the second half, we were able to get some breakaways and hit our shots. Then everything fell in place.”

Parkersburg's Nate Rodriguez (25), right, drives the lane as Spring Valley's Clay Robertson (2) closes the distance during a boys high school basketball game on Tuesday at Spring Valley High School. (Photo by Ryan Fischer/The Herald-Dispatch)

The Timberwolves ended the second quarter with a Harrison Riggs basket off an offensive rebound to take a lead they never gave up. Spring Valley followed with the first eight points of the third period, using the fastbreak to build a 33-23 lead.

“We played the game we wanted to play in the first half,” Parkersburg coach Phil Wilson said. “We felt pretty good going into halftime. Coming into the third quarter, we wanted to contain, contain, contain, and try to get some stops and see if we could get some extra baskets here and there. They exploited us a little bit because we want to hit the boards really hard. In the process of trying to get rebounds, they killed us in transition.”

The Big Reds pulled within 35-29 after Isaac Dailey’s 3-pointer with 4:31 left in the third quarter but the Timberwolves steadily pulled away to a lead as large as 18 points.

Chaffin complimented Parkersburg for controlling the tempo early and his own players for taking it over late.

“They wanted to walk it up and walk it back,” Chaffin said of the Big Reds. “We told our players at halftime, when we get the ball, we’re going to go.”

Parkersburg's Chandler Jackson (20), left, shoots for three over Spring Valley's Mason Williamson (10) during a boys high school basketball game on Tuesday at Spring Valley High School. (Photo by Ryan Fischer/The Herald-Dispatch)

Go they did, taking advantage of Parkersburg misses to rebound and kick the ball out quickly for fastbreak baskets. The more Spring Valley scored, the more the Big Reds had to rely on 3-point shots, making six of 18.

The Big Reds lost to Spring Valley 80-70 on Feb. 12. Wilson said his team tried to adjust from that loss.

“Last time we played them they beat us on the boards,” Wilson said. “It’s one of those things where you try to clean one thing up and you sacrifice another, knowing you don’t want to give up the transition. It’s hard to juggle all of it.”

Riggs paced the Timberwolves with 24 points. Clay Robertson netted 19 and Colton Caldwell 16. Nat Rodriguez scored 13 points and Chandler Jackson 12 for Parkersburg.