LOGAN, W. Va. - Top-seeded Tug Valley pulled away in the second half to upend No. 4 seed Wayne, 74-62, while No. 2 seed Scott eliminated fourth-seeded Tolsia, 55-34, in the Class AA Region IV, Section 2 Tournament semifinals, Tuesday night,at Logan High School's Willie Akers Arena.

By virtue of their victories, Tug Valley (14-9) and Scott (12-11) will square off for the sectional championship tonight in Logan. Under the WVSSAC's new post-season format for basketball, both teams will advance to regional play next week.

Wayne all but erased a 9-0 game-opening run by Tug Valley, but a 10-0 run by the Panthers to open the second half proved too much to overcome.

Fueled by junior guard Channing Preece, the quick scoring spurt out of the halftime intermission gave Tug a 16-point advantage and the Pioneers got no closer than seven the rest of the way.

"The first two minutes of the game and the first two or three minutes of the third quarter - about a five-minute stretch killed us. Take those parts away and I thought we outplayed them," said Wayne head coach Duane Tabor, whose team finished its season at 13-11. "We outdid them in everything outside of those two stretches. I hate it for our seniors because they put the time in to be as successful as we were this season."

Preece, who had seven of Tug's 10 points in the run, scored 21 of his game-high 27 points after the break.

"He's come a long way since his freshman year at Tolsia and I made a point to tell him that after the game,"

Tabor said of Preece. "He's another kid who's put the time in and it shows. We couldn't handle him. If it wasn't him driving to the bucket and scoring, he was giving it off to (Michael) Evans."

Evans had 16 of his 20 points over the final two quarters.

The Pioneers managed to stay within striking distance for most of the night, but couldn't quite get over the hump.

Tug Valley's defense had a lot to do with that.

Wayne senior guard Neil Dillon had 21 points and four assists, but the Panthers all but neutralized junior center

Chase Perry, who was limited to just nine points and team-best six rebounds.

"They did a good job of taking Chase away," Tabor said. "They've got so many different weapons and a couple of them are in the post."

Brandon Sutherland and Seth Merritt had 11 points each in the loss for the Pioneers.