BY KYLE LOVERN
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

NAUGATUCK, W.Va. — The Tug Valley Panthers and Tolsia Rebels have had a storied rivalry through the years on the hardwood. On Jan. 23 at the TVHS gym the Panthers clawed the Rebels 86-63 to improve to 8-1 on the season.

Tug Valley went into the game ranked No. 3 in Class A in the AP Poll and No. 2 in the Coaches Poll.

The Panthers had a comfortable lead at 42-21 heading into the dressing room at the half.

Kaden Hale led the way for Tug Valley, netting 15 points in the first half, including four 3-pointers. Point guard Braydun Ferris and shooting guard Ashton Davis each chipped in seven points in the first two quarters.

Tolsia came out strong to start the third quarter. The Rebels cut the lead to 42-28 as Coach Garland “Rabbit” Thompson called a timeout to regroup.

Brady Brewer, who got his first start of the season, hit a three to stop the bleeding. After a Rebel miss, Hale swished in another trey from the corner.

Tug’s full-court pressure and man-to-man defense made a big difference. The Panthers led 62-41 after three quarters of play.

Big Buddy Marcum had several nice buckets around the basket in the second half as Tug Valley worked the ball down in the low post to go along with their perimeter game.

Tug Valley led 75-46 with 4:51 left in the game.

Hale finished with 21 points, while Ferris scored 16 and dished out 10 assists. Five TVHS players reached double figures. Marcum finished with 13, Bryson Elia and Ashton Davis each scored 11 and dished out five assists, Brewer had five, Carson Newsome five, and Evan Bryant and Preston May both had a basket for two points. Elia had six steals to lead Tug in that category.

Tug shot 44% from the floor including 12 of 29 from behind the arc for 41%. The Panthers were 14-22 from the foul line for 64%.

Parker Watts led Tolsia with 25 points, Bryson Muncy scored 16, and Josh Hofmeister scored 9.

Tolsia dropped to 8-3 on the season.

Score by quarters:
Tolsia: 6 15 20 22 – 63
Tug: 18 24 20 24 – 86