Kyle Lovern/Daily News
Tug Valley senior guard Mikey Newsome fires up this short jumper against Notre Dame in first round action of the state tournament. Newsome scored 25 points to lead the Panthers.
Kyle Lovern/Daily News
Austin Brewer is shown taking a shot in the lane against Notre Dame of Clarksburg. Brewer (30) scored 19 points and dished out 10 assists in the win. Tug Valley advances to the state semi-finals.
Kyle Lovern
Sports Editor
CHARLESTON - The Tug Valley Panthers are on a mission. They want to win back-to-back state titles.
That got off to a great start Wednesday evening with an 87-62 win over Notre Dame of Clarksburg in the opening round of the 100th annual W. Va. State High School Basketball Tournament being played at the Charleston Civic Center.
Tug Valley, led by three senior guards, Austin Brewer, Mikey Newsome and Aaron Muncy, left no doubt they are the team to beat in the Class a division.
The Panthers actually got off to a slow start. They trailed 11-8 midway through the first quarter after Notre Dame guard Cal Ciastro hit a jumper and then tipped in another shot.
“It was a typical first round game,” Tug Valley coach Garland “Rabbit” Thompson said. “We may have been a little tight early on.”
But then Tug Valley got a layup and a pair of free throws from Newsome and a jump shot by Brewer to take a 16-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Panther outscored the Irish 22-16 in the second quarter and led 38-27 at the half.
The third quarter was all Tug Valley. The Panthers went on a 21-0 run and took a commanding lead.
“Eventually we settled down and our press gave them some trouble,” Thompson added.
The Panthers outscored the Irish 29-5 in the third quarter and coasted the rest of the way. Thompson cleared his bench in the final quarter.
“I’ve got three good guards,” Thompson said of his seniors who started on last season’s Class AA state title game.
“They have a very good ball club,” Notre Dame head coach Jarrod West said. “We new coming in we would have our hands full.”
“I thought in the third quarter they turned it up defensively. Once a team like that gets rolling, they are hard to stop,” West added.
Newsome and Brewer really got their offense going in the third quarter. The Panthers outscored the Irish 29-5 in the third.
“The coach trusts us. When we get in a flow we’re hard to beat,” Brewer said of the Tug Valley offense. “I try to get my teammates involved. When I’m able to penetrate, it creates some shots for us.”
“When you are the defending AA champ and come in as the No. 1 seed, you have a target on your back,” Newsome said. “They gave us their best shot early. You have to give them credit. But we eventually settled down.”
Newsome had a game high 25 points, while Brewer scored 19 and had 10 assists. He also pulled down six rebounds. Junior forward Thomas Baisden got in double figures with 10, while sophomore Hayden Sturgell came off the bench to score 12.
Austin Baisden had seven off the bench.
Sturgell and Austin Baisden got more minutes in the first half because Muncy and Corey Dillon got into some early foul trouble.
“Our bench was productive,” Thompson said. “When Hayden comes in it allows us to press. He and Austin (Baisden) both did a good job tonight and gave us a big lift off the bench.”
Justin Goff led the Irish with 14 points, while Cistaro ended the game with 13.
Tug Valley was 34-59 from the floor for 57 percent, and 5-11 from 3-point land for 46 percent. They were 14-24 at the free throw line for 58 percent.
Tug Valley will take on Tucker County in the semi-finals at 1 p.m. on Friday afternoon. If they win, they will play in the championship game on Saturday at 12 noon.
Scoring:
NOTRE DAME (14-9)
Cistaro 5-9 3-4 13, Petrucci 2-2 1-1 6, Goff 4-12 4-4 14, Ridgway 1-7 0-0 3, Morrison 1-3 0-0 3, McKinsey 0-0 0-0 0, Chafin 3-6 0-0 8, Wilson 1-1 0-0 2, Sestito 1-2 0-0 3, Miller 0-0 2-3 2, Demary 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 3-4 0-0 8. Totals 21-47 10-12 62.
TUG VALLEY (23-3)
Muncy 1-2 0-0 2, M.Newsome 8-16 7-8 25, Brewer 8-13 3-3 19, T.Baisden 5-7 0-3 10, Dillon 1-3 0-0 2, K.Newsome 0-2 0-0 0, S.Marcum 0-0 0-0 0, Workman 0-0 2-2 2, Kitchen 0-1 0-0 0, Hager 0-0 0-0 0, Sturgell 5-6 0-1 12, Copley 0-2 1-2 1, A.Baisden 3-3 1-5 7, Blankenship 1-1 0-0 3, D.Marcum 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 34-59 14-24 87. Score by quarters:
ND … 11 16 5 30 - 62
TV … 16 22 29 20 - 87
3-Point Goals_Notre Dame 10-27 (Chafin 2-3, Brown 2-3, Goff 2-7, Petrucci 1-1, Morrison 1-2, Sestito 1-2, Ridgway 1-7, Cistaro 0-1, Demary 0-1), Tug Valley 5-11 (Sturgell 2-2, M.Newsome 2-5, Blankenship 1-1, Muncy 0-1, Brewer 0-1, Kitchen 0-1). Fouled Out_none. Rebounds_Notre Dame 31 (Cistaro 9), Tug Valley 28 (Brewer 6). Assists_Notre Dame 15 (Demary 4), Tug Valley 18 (Brewer 10). Total Fouls_Notre Dame 19, Tug Valley 16. Technical_Notre Dame bench. A_na.
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