NAUGATUCK, W.Va. — Tug Valley avenged their lone loss to an in-state opponent this season with an impressive performance in a 56-39 win over Tucker County in the second game of a home-and-home series between the two Class A rivals.
The defending state champion Panthers fell to the 2024 runners-up at Tucker County, 65-63 in overtime on January 4. On their home floor, Tug surrendered 26 fewer points than in their previous meeting.
“I thought our pressure was very good. When you are active defensively and force teams into speeding up, which I thought we did just a little bit, I thought that created some easy buckets for us,” said Tug Valley head coach Garland “Rabbit” Thompson.
“I thought it was a total team effort defensively. I am tickled to death that we get out of here with a ‘W’.”
Tug Valley jumped out to a 8-0 lead and they never trailed in the contest. Carson Newsome led all scorers with 17 points. He ended the first and second quarters with buzzer-beating three-pointers. The Panthers took a 13-point lead into the locker room at 30-17.

“We get to walk in with momentum when he hit those. You could hear the crowd erupt once he hit them.”
Tucker was unable to mount a rally in the second half as the Panthers kept a double-digit cushion on the scoreboard for the rest of the game.
Braydun Ferris added 14 points for the Panthers (12-2). With similar records and a split of their regular season series, Tug and Tucker will continue to battle for the top seed in the state tournament field should they each find their way to Charleston once again.
“You’ve got to worry about the regional first and let that external stuff take care of itself. That’s what we are more focused on.”
A near capacity crowd watched the Panthers improve to 5-1 at home this season.
“Great atmosphere. I think all of ‘Tug Valley Nation’ showed up in full force. I am very proud of our crowd. They support these kids. They are our sixth man. When they show up like this, our kids get excited and they play.”

Garrett Wilfong led Tucker County (13-2) with 11 points. He was disqualified in the third quarter for hanging on the rim after a dunk in which he was assessed his second technical foul. Trevan Bonner added 10 points for the Mountain Lions.