BY KYLE LOVERN
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
PARSONS, W.Va. — Tug Valley squeezed by home-standing Tucker County 66-65 to pull out a big road victory Saturday afternoon.
The game was a rivalry and rematch of the last two Class A state championship games, each won by the Panthers. Tug Valley was 4-1 and ranked No. 1 in the state heading into the final game on the holiday break for students. The Mountain Lions were 3-3 and ranked No. 4 in the state heading into the contest.
A crowded gymnasium in Parsons witnessed the contest.
Tug Valley led 33-30 at halftime in the hard-fought game. Braydun Ferris scored 13 first-half points and Zade Rash added seven to lead the Panthers in the first two quarters.
The Panthers of Coach Garland “Rabbit” Thompson turned up the defense early in the third quarter and took an eight-point lead on a Rash free throw at just under the 6:00 mark.
But the Mountain Lions would not go away. The home team hung around in the physical game as they cut the lead to 51-50 at the end of the third period. Mikey Mitchell swished in a trio of 3s for Tucker County to help them fight back.
Preston May picked up his third foul late in the third quarter and had to spend some time on the bench.
Tucker took the lead at 52-51 with 6:51 left in the final quarter.
A Rash 3-pointer gave Tug Valley a 55-52 lead. Tug led 57-52 at a timeout with 3:29 remaining.
The Panthers went to a four-corner offense to eat up some time on the clock. An offensive foul gave the ball back to Tucker, but the Mountain Lions did not capitalize.
Tug went up 59-52 on a Rash layup.
Alex Lambert made a pair of three throws to cut the lead to 59-55 for the Mountain Lions and called a quick timeout.
Tug stayed in the four corners as Ferris drove the lane and hit Preston May for a nice lay-in. After a couple of foul shots by Tucker County, Ferris drew a foul and hit a pair of clutch free throws to make it 63-57.
A goal tending on the Panthers cut the lead to just four at 63-59.
Carson Newsome stepped up and nailed two more free throws for Tug Valley to make it 65-59 with 21 seconds left.
Sam Marks swished the nylons for a long 3-pointer to cut the lead to 65-62.
Tug got the ball back and Rash hit 1-of-2 foul shots to make it 66-62.
Tucker County hit a trey at the buzzer, but time ran out and the Panthers pulled out the win.
Once again Ferris led Tug Valley in scoring with 22 points. The All-state point guard also dished out five assists.
Rash finished with 18 points, Newsome scored 12, May added 10 and Cam Slone chipped in four.
Tug Valley shot 43% from the field making 23-53 shots. The Panthers went 13-20 at the free-throw line for 65%.
Marks led Tucker County with 19, Ethan Cummings followed with 13, Mitchell added 12, Caden Arnold had 10 and Lambert tacked on two.
Tug Valley improved to 5-1 while Tucker County fell to 3-4.
The Panthers have beaten Tucker four out of the last five meetings.
Score by quarters:
Tug: 18 15 18 15 – 66
Tucker: 17 13 20 15 – 65