BY KYLE LOVERN
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

LOGAN, W.Va. — The Tug Valley Panthers out-clawed the Logan Wildcats 72-65 on a cold Tuesday night, Jan. 21 at Willie Akers Arena in Logan.

Both teams came out as cold as the temperatures were on this extremely cold winter night. Each team came out with full-court pressure, which caused some of the slow-starting offense.

Tug Valley took a 7-2 lead on a Braydun Ferris 3-pointer with 2:35 left in the first quarter. But Logan battled back and the Panthers narrowly led 10-8 after the first 8:00 of the game.

The Panthers got back-to-back 3s from Ethan Ferrell and Bryson Elia to take a 16-10 lead early in the third period. Ferrell provided a big spark off the bench for Coach Garland “Rabbit” Thompson’s squad swishing in three 3-pointers in the quarter. He hit another trey that gave TVHS a 21-14 lead.

Tug Valley started heating up and took a 25-14 lead with 4:34 left in the first half. They also turned up their defense and managed to take a 35-20 lead at the halftime break.

Ferrell fired in a trio of 3-pointers in the second quarter to give his team an important nine first-half points. Elia scored six and Ferris seven for TV in the half.

However, Coach Mark Hatcher’s Logan team was not going to go away quietly. They kept clawing back and cutting into the Panther’s lead. The Wildcats cut the Tug Valley lead to 40-30 as Coach Thompson quickly called a timeout at the 5:20 mark.

Logan cut the lead to 40-36 forcing Thompson to use another timeout with 3:54 remaining in the third quarter. What was once a 19-point Tug Valley lead was cut to just two points at 40-38 on a Zaydon Sherod jumper at the 1:30 mark. A little later Sherod hit a pair of foul shots to tie the game at 42-all.

The Panthers were able to keep a slim lead at 51-48 after battling back in the final minute of the third quarter.

Early in the final quarter, the two powerhouse teams from southern West Virginia traded baskets. But a Ferris layup and another short jumper by Elia gave TV a 66-58 lead.

Tug Valley took a 10-point lead at 68-58 to have a little breathing room late in the final quarter. They held on down the stretch to pull out the hard-fought road victory.

Ferris led Tug Valley with 20 points, Ashton Davis scored 12, Ferrell finished with 11, Kaden Hale fired in 11 and Elia had 10. Carson Newsome just missed double figures with eight.

Elia led TVHS with nine rebounds and four assists. He also had four steals for a fine all-around game.

The Panthers shot 83% from the free throw line, making 20-24 and were 46% from the floor for the game. They were 8-13 from behind the arc for 62%.

Sherod led the Wildcats with 19 points and 13 rebounds. McCormick Ilderton followed with 15 points. Ivan Miller had 14 points and six rebounds and Lucas Lambert scored 13 points.

The Wildcats only made one 3-pointer in the game and were 1-11 for 9%. They were 48% in field goal percentage and were 6-12 at the charity stripe for 50%.

Tug Valley came into the game ranked No. 2 in Class A and improved to 8-2. Logan fell to 9-2 and is ranked No. 3 in Class AA.

Score by quarters:
Tug: 10 25 16 21 – 72
Logan: 8 12 28 17 – 65