BY KYLE LOVERN
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

NAUGATUCK, W.Va. — The Tug Valley Panthers are headed back to the West Virginia State Basketball Tournament. The Panthers defeated Wahama 72-64 in the Class A Region 4 co-championship game Tuesday at the TVHS home gym.

The Panthers of Coach Garland “Rabbit” Thompson finished the regular season ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press poll and No. 2 in the Coaches poll.

Tug Valley now has a record of 19-6 as they advance to next week’s state tournament at the Charleston Coliseum. It will be their second straight trip to the state tournament, third appearance in the last four years and 17th overall in school history.

The White Falcons of Wahama, ranked No. 8 in the Class A Coaches poll, made it a battle early and through the third quarter. But Tug Valley’s offense was just too much for the visitors.

“Give Wahama a lot of credit,” Thompson said. “We made some free throws down the stretch to pull it out. We get everybody’s best shot.”

The Panthers led 19-15 after the first quarter, but the White Falcons continued to hang around. Tug led 37-30 at the half.

Wahama would not go away and cut the lead to 43-42 early in the third period, but the Panthers never relinquished the lead and pulled out the regional tournament championship.

Panthers guard Braydun Ferris fired in 27 points to lead the team in scoring. Ferris scored 14 in the first half. He also dished out five assists.

Ashton Davis added 13 points and dished out three assists, Kaden Hale scored 11 and Carson Newsome continued to provide a spark off the bench with nine points, making 3-of-3 from behind the arc. Buddy Marcum and Bryson Elia both scored six points. Marcum pulled down 11 rebounds.

Tug Valley shot 44% from the field, including 6-13 from 3-point land for 46%. They made 18-26 free throws for 69%.

Eli Rickard led the White Falcons with 21 points, while Alex Hardwick scored 16.

Tug Valley is the No. 2 seed at the state tourney. Here is the Class A quarterfinals schedule:

Game 1 – No. 3 East Hardy vs. No. 6 Cameron – Wednesday, March 13, 9:30 a.m.

Game 2 – No. 2 Tug Valley vs. No. 7 Doddridge County – Wednesday, March 13, 1 p.m.

Game 3 – No. 1 Tucker County vs. No. 8 Huntington St. Joseph’s – Wednesday, March 13, 5:30 p.m.

Game 4 – No. 4 Webster County vs. No. 5 James Monroe – Wednesday, March 13, 9 p.m.

Score by quarters:
Wahama:15 15 20 14 – 64
Tug: 19 18 18 17 – 72