BY KYLE LOVERN
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Tug Valley got off to a sluggish start in its first-round game Wednesday at the West Virginia State Basketball Tournament in Charleston. In fact they trailed at halftime to No. 7 seed Wahama 27-22.
The White Falcons were making their first state tournament appearance in 53 years Wednesday against the No. 2 seed Panthers of Tug Valley in a Class A quarterfinal at the Charleston Coliseum.
However Tug Valley was not ready to leave the dance and any upset that some fans may have worried about didn’t happen as the Mingo County squad pulled away in the second half to win 63-45.
The White Falcons average 67 points per game, which is tied for third-best in Class A. They entered the state tournament on a 9-game winning streak and had won 12 of their last 13 games.
Tug Valley owns the second-highest scoring offense in Class A at 73 points per game. The Panthers are unbeaten against Class A opponents. They increased their current win streak to 19 games. Eighteen of those victories have come by 10 points or more.
“You have to give Wahama credit,” Coach Garland “Rabbit” Thompson said. “They got after us and whipped us in the first half.” The White Falcons outscored the Panthers 21-9 in the second quarter.
But Thompson and his staff saw the Tug Valley team they are familiar with in the second half. Whether it was the bright lights of the Coliseum or just nerves, the first half was not good for the Panthers.
Tug Valley ended the first half shooting only 2-for-16 from 3-point land.
“We settled down in the second half,” Thompson said. “Joey (Gollihue) settled down.”
The sophomore guard came into the game averaging 17 ppg but put up zero in the first half.
“It’s not how you start but how you finish,” Thompson said.
Tug outscored Wahama 25-7 in the third and 16-11 in the final 8:00 minutes.
“It’s survive and advance now,” Thompson added.
The coach praised his squad for turning it around in the third quarter. He said defense helped turn the game around. Wahama was just 2-for-10 shooting and Tug Valley made 11-of-14 shots during the third quarter. The Panthers started working for higher percentage shots and relying less on the 3-pointer.
Freshman point guard Braydun Ferris led the Panthers with 22 points and did not commit any turnovers. Ferris also dished out six assists and hauled in five rebounds. Ferris scored the Panthers’ first eight points of the game.
Gollihue and Parker Davis finished with 13 points each. Gollihue led the team with 10 rebounds.
Thompson praised the steady inside play of Buddy Marcum and the poise of guard Ashton Davis for contributing to the victory. Marcum and A. Davis tacked on six points each, while Jonathan Wagoner added three off the bench.
With the win Tug Valley moved to the semi-finals against No. 3 seed Tucker County Friday.
Score by quarters:
Wahama: 6 21 7 11 – 45
Tug Valley: 13 9 25 16 – 63
Scoring:
Wahama: J. Lloyd 10, S. VanMatre 9, B. Zuspan 7, E. Rickard 7, E. Gray 7, A. Hardwick 5.
Tug Valley: B. Ferris 22, J. Gollihue 13, P. Davis 13, A. Davis 6, B. Marcum 6, J. Wagoner 3.