The tournament, hosted each year by the Tug Valley Lady Panthers, honors the memory of longtime Kermit area teacher, administrator, coach and sports referee John C. Preece. Preece was a long-time supporter of area junior high and high school sports and coached many of the area’s youth at various sports levels, particularly in basketball.
This years tournament offered four teams that have long histories with each other and rivalries between participants with Logan, Williamson, Tolsia and Tug Valley High Schools participating.
Night one of this year’s tourney saw match-ps between the Tolsia Lady Fighting Rebels and the Williamson Wolfpack. Williamson was clearly not on their game as the Wolfpack fell 70 to 35 in game one of the tournament. Tolsia was paced in scoring by Kara Pollinger with 19 points while Williamson was led by Devan Maynard with 12 points.
The final game of the tournament’s first night saw Class AAA Logan versus Class AA Tug Valley. In a game between these two perrenial area basketball standout programs, Tug Valley came away with the win, 52 to 41.
That set up an exciting Day 2 of the tournament. The tournament’s second day had to be played at the Kermit K-8 gymnasium due to the fact that Tug Valley High School was being used by the Mingo County Clerk’s office as a polling place for Saturday’s special school excess levy election.
The change in venue did not make a difference in the energy on the hardwood as the day’s match-ups between long-time rivals Logan and Williamson in the consolation game and Tolsia and Tug Valley provided all the excitement anyone could want.
In the consolation contest, Class A Williamson got a big victory as they defeated their Class AAA opponent Logan 60 to 55 in a double overtime thriller that saw the ‘Pack basically hang on and outlast their opponents. Erica Hatfield had 18 points and Sharrell Barnes 11 points for the ‘Pack in performances that drew high praise from their coach, Robin Porter. “We had good leadership from our seniors tonight. Erica had her best scoring night. Sharrell scored 9 of her 11 points in the second half. Her presence on the floor opens up opportunitites for the rest of the team and we don’t always capitalize on them - we did tonight.”
Jessica Fields also hit on some big shots for the ‘Pack from the 3 point line and Devan Maynard pulled in 9 rebounds for the ‘Pack. Logan was led in the contest by Jessica Bias with 24 points followed by Katie Chryssofos with 14.
The win gave the Wolfpack third place in the tourney.
The final game of the tournament pitted two teams that are well familiar with one another in the championship match-up as Tolsia and Tug Valley squared off. Everyone knows that when these two schools meet in any type of athletic competition that both teams bring on their game faces. This one was no different.
Tolsia jumped out early on the Panthers outscoring them 20 to 4 in the first quarter as the Panthers got off to a slow start.
The Panthers found their shooting touch in the second quarter and scored 14 points. The only problem was that the Lady Fighting Rebels were still hot from the previous frame and again scored 20 to make the halftime score Rebels 40, Panthers 18.
The second half saw Tug Valley’s defense finally slow down the Rebels. But it was too late as the Rebel’s lead proved to be insurmountable as the outscored Tug Valley 13 to 12 in the 3rd quarter and 14 to 13 in the fourth to give the game a final score of Tolsia 67, Tug Valley 43, thus giving the tournament championship to the Lady Fighting Rebels.
For the game, Tug Valley was led in scoring by Tabitha Mounts with 15 points. Katherine Endicott added 8 and Keisha Ratcliffe 6 to the effort. Tolsia’s Amber Finley also led her team with 15 points followed by Kara Pollinger with 11 and Courtney Crum with 10.
Night 2, Game 1 Scoring
Logan................................55 (Double Overtime)
Williamson........................60
Scoring by teams:
Logan: Jessica Bias 24, Katie Chryssofos 14, Leonnah Browning 7, KAtie Lowe 7, Eboni Monroe 2 Faydva Matin 1.
Williamson (6-6): Erica Hatfield 18, Jessica Fields 14, Sharrell Barnes 11, Devan Maynard 8, Shareekua Jones 6, Mackenzie Stapleton 3.
Night 2, Game 2 Scoring by periods:
Tolsia..................................20 20 13 14 - 67
Tug Valley........................... 4 14 12 13 - 43
Scoring by teams:
Tolsia: Amber Finley 15, Kara Pollinger 11, Courtney Crum 10, Morgan Prince 8, Carly Purvis 8, Katy Lahoda 6, Ashley Vanhoose 4, Kristie Lahoda 2, Rachel Webb 2, Kelly Lahoda 1.
Tug Valley: Tabitha Mounts 15, Katherine Endicott 8, Keisha Ratcliffe 6, Elizabeth Evans 5, Kara Sheppard 3, Courtney Southers 2, Haley Ward 2, Paige Runyon 2.
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