BY KYLE LOVERN
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

MAN, W.Va. — Because of the recent winter weather, Tug Valley had not played a game in over a week. But they finally were able to hit the hardwood Feb. 4 at Man and downed the Hillbillies 79-49.

Perhaps it was the ride to Logan County or the cold outside that contributed to the Panthers starting a little slow.

Man led 17-16 after one quarter, but Tug outscored the home team 16-9 in the second period to take a 32-23 lead heading into the dressing room at halftime.

The Panthers continued to turn up the pressure. They dominated the third quarter, outscoring the Hillbillies 24-11 to get some breathing room. Tug Valley finished up the final 8:00 minutes of play by outscoring Man 23-12 to pull away with an easy victory.

All-state guard Braydun Ferris led the scoring with 34 points, including 20 in the first half. He also dished out seven dimes and pulled down six rebounds.

“It felt awesome to be back on the court, especially coming back into a regional rivalry,” Ferris said. “We took this personally after a tough loss. I felt like we came out slow as a whole, but we kinda expected it. When the second half came, we came out with a quicker pace.”

Carson Newsome and Zade Rash each scored 14 points. Newsome also dished out five assists.

Cam Slone chipped in four points, while Aiden Copeland scored three, and Bryson Elia, Jackson Jewell, Preston May, Bryson Richardson and Jace Hale each scored two points.

Coach Garland “Rabbit” Thompson’s squad shot 57% from behind the arc, making 8-14 long-distance shots while shooting 56% from the floor for the game, hitting 33-61 shots. The Panthers were 5-9 at the foul line for 56%.

Grayson Sanders led Man with 20 points, while Connor Booth added 13 points.

The Panthers improved to 9-3 with the win, while Man fell to 9-4.

Tug Valley remains ranked No. 1 in Class A.

Score by quarters:
Tug: 16 16 24 23 – 79
Man: 17 9 11 12 – 49