BY KYLE LOVERN
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

NAUGATUCK — The Tug Valley girls basketball team suffered a tough loss to Shelby Valley 49-33 Tuesday night.

Shelby Valley (8-2) built their lead up to 12 points in the second quarter, but two baskets from Bailee Hall and a corner three from Haven Deskins helped the Panthers trim the lead down to five at 20-15.

The Lady Wildcats finished out the period on a 5-0 run as they took a 25-15 lead into halftime.

The Panthers hung around in the third quarter as Brooke Spaulding and Katelynn Richardson both hit 3s to help their team cut the lead to 31-25.

Shelby Valley ended the third quarter leading 37-25.

Hall caught fire in the fourth for Tug as the Panthers drilled back-to-back corner 3s and then sank a pair of free throws to get the Shelby Valley lead back down to eight at 41-33.

That was as close as the Lady Panthers would get as the Wildcats closed out the game on an 8-0 run to secure the win.

Hall led the Lady Panthers on the night as she tossed in 16 points to go along with seven rebounds and six steals. Deskins was next for Tug with seven points, six rebounds and five assists, while Richardson followed her with five points, Spaulding tossed in three, and Baisden scored two.

Sadie Johnson led all scorers with 18 points for Shelby Valley, while Zoee Johnson followed her with 14 and Lindsey Baldwin had eight.

The win for Shelby Valley improved their record to 8-2 on the season. The loss for the Panthers dropped them to 3-8.

Score by Quarters

Shelby Valley: 14 11 10 14 – 49

Tug Valley: 6 9 10 8 – 33