BY KYLE LOVERN
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

COAL CITY, W.Va. — The Tug Valley Panthers lost a close game to the Patriots of Independence High School 66-64 Friday night in Coal City.

The game was originally scheduled for Saturday night, but was moved up to Friday due to predicted winter weather and possible snowfall across the state.

Tug Valley led 18-17 after one quarter, but trailed 36-35 at intermission as Independence outscored the Panthers 19-17 in the second period.

Tug’s Braydun Ferris scored 18 first half points, while Zade Rash added 11 to lead their team on offense early.

The Panthers fought back to outscore Independence 15-11 in the third quarter, but the Patriots outscored Tug Valley 19-14 in the final 8 minutes of play to pull away with the home-court victory.

Ferris ended the game with 28 points and dished out four assists. Rash finished with 17 and Carson Newsome added 12 for TVHS. Other scoring saw Aiden Copeland with three, and Preston May and Cam Slone with two each.

Tug Valley was only 9-15 at the free throw line for 60%. They were 47% from the field, making 25-53 shots, including 5-14 from 3-point land for 36%.

For Independence, Ashton Arthur fired in 28 points, while Sylas Nelson added 23 points and Brock Green chipped in 11.

The Panthers saw their record fall to 8-3. They came in still ranked No. 1 in Class A.

Independence, a good Class AA team, improved to 5-5. With the win the Patriots earned a regular-season series split with TVHS.

Score by quarters:
Tug Valley: 18 17 15 14 – 64
Independence: 17 19 11 19 – 66