BY KYLE LOVERN
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — The Tug Valley Panthers started defense of their Class A state championship with a tough 53-51 win over St. Joseph of Huntington on Tuesday, Dec. 10 at the Cam Henderson Center, the home of the Marshall Thundering Herd.

The two squads battled to a 9-9 tie after one quarter. The Fighting Irish outscored the Panthers 19-12 in the second quarter to take a 28-23 lead at halftime.

The visitors came out in the third quarter to cut the lead to one point, 36-35. The Panthers pulled out the victory outscoring St. Joe 18-15 in the final quarter.

Several of the Panthers had only had a handful of practices due to the late-season playoff run of the football team. Tug Valley had trailed at one point in the game by 10 points.

Tug Valley came into the game ranked No. 2 in the Coaches Poll in Single A.

Junior point guard Braydun Ferris led Coach Garland “Rabbit” Thompson’s team with 21 points. Junior guard Bryson Elia added 12, while senior wing Kaden Hale chipped in 10. Carson Newsome chipped in 4, while Cam Slone scored two and Ashton Davis and Ethan Ferrell added one point each.

Ferris dished out six assists, while Elia pulled down seven rebounds and had four steals.

Tug Valley only made one 3-pointer (by Hale) and was 1-11 from behind the arc for 9%. They shot 33% from the floor and made 20-32 free throws for 63%.

Nymir Bryant led the Irish with 12 points, while Micah Ehrim and Noah Keaton each had 11.

Tug Valley’s next game will be at the Williamson Fieldhouse on Dec. 19 against Pike County Central out of Kentucky starting at 5:30 p.m. The University of Pikeville will take on WVU Tech in the second game of the doubleheader.

Score by quarters:
Tug: 9 12 14 18 – 53
St. Joe: 9 19 8 15- 51