(Staff Photo/JEFF REYNOLDS)
Tug Valley's Channing Preece shoots for two of his game high 14 points against Weir Thursday night in the 2009 W.Va. Boys State Basketball Tournament, which ended in favor of Tug Valley, 63-46.
The Panthers dominated the rebounding game with 29 defensive and 16 offensive rebounds. They beat Weir three to one on the boards for the game. Panther center Michael Evans was unstoppable underneath, collecting 10 rebounds, with 8 of them coming on the defensive board. Nathan Brewer was equally as dominating, garnering 9 rebounds, 5 being defensive.
Turnovers and the scoring directly off of them also was a major factor in this game. The Red Riders got 20 turnovers but scored on only 11 of them. Tug Valley on the other hand, forced 15 Weir turnovers and scored on 11 of them.
“From where I sit, our failure to convert those 20 turnovers into points was one of the two keys to this game” said Weir Head Coach Mike Granato in the post game press conference. “That’s got to be something that’s automatic if you want to win. I’m going to hate watching the tape in a day or two and calculating our conversion rate.”
“Thankfully our defense was strong enough to keep them from scoring off of those turnovers” Tug Valley Head Coach Garland “Rabbit” Thompson told the media. “Normally you can’t win turning the ball over that much. And we certainly can’t give up twenty turnovers against Wyoming East tomorrow and expect to win.”
For the Panthers though, that was about their only weak spot in a game in which they never were without the lead. From the opening tip, the Panthers were in command.
Channing Preece started things off for Tug Valley in a big way with a three-pointer 8 seconds in to give his team a 3-0 lead. They never relinquished that lead. At one point in the first quarter the Panthers were ahead 13 to 6 and from there they began to break away.
Led by a 9 point quarter by Preece and 5 points each by Nathan Brewer and Austin Vance, the Panthers finished the first quarter ahead 19 to 11.
The second quarter saw the Panthers pull away even farther. With a good balanced scoring attack which saw them hit eight shots from the paint and make seven off of second shot opportunities. The Panthers expanded their lead to 34 – 21 going into halftime.
The third period was critical as far as Coach Thompson was concerned. “I told our guys during the half that the first three minutes of the third would set the tempo for the rest of the game. If there was going to be an opportunity for them (Weir) to turn this thing around, that’s when it would be.”
Mike Evans was most definitely listening to his coach at halftime. Evans came out totally dominating in the quarter gaining 7 of Tug’s 16 points in that period. He also collected five of his game high 10 rebounds in the third. Behind such a strong performance, the Panthers took a 50 – 33 lead into the final period of play.
The fourth quarter, the Panthers had a small let-down which Weir capitalized on. The Panthers gave up 9 of their 15 turnovers to the Red Riders who scored off of all 9 of them either through field goals or free throws. But Channing Preece hit four big free throws and Derek Hayes scored six points in the frame to make the final score Tug Valley 63, Weir 46.
“Our top key to the game was supposed to be to box out and keep them from scoring inside. And obviously, we didn’t do that very well.” commented Granato. “They’re an excellent team.”
“Channing, as always, led the way offensively for us tonight. I was real proud of how Nathan and Austin performed tonight” said Thompson.” Michael was just a warrior in there and our bench play was good.”
“I was pleased with how we played in three out of four quarters tonight” added Thompson, the Pack’s second year Head Coach. “I never thought we’d win by that much, but that’s about as good as we’ve played.”
When asked about his thoughts on playing defending two-time Class AA State Champion Wyoming East, Thompson was pensively optimistic. “Wyoming East is tough. They’re two-time champions and here again, so you know they’re going to bring it. But, we’ve knocked off Number One teams before, so it is possible. It can happen. But we’re really going to have to play well and play hard. But, at this level, that’s what it’s all about.”
The Panthers, with the win over Weir, became only the second lower seeded team to win in their quarterfinal match-up over a higher seeded opponent. Earlier in the day, Class AAA’s No. 5 seeded Wheeling Park defeated the Class AAA No. 4 seed Parkersburg South to advance.
Tug Valley returns to the Civic Center floor tonight at 5:30 p.m. in semi-final action against defending State Class AA Champion Wyoming East with the winner securing a place in the Saturday’s Class AA final for the State Championship.
Scoring by Period:
Tug Valley 19 15 16 13 - 63
Weir 11 10 12 13 - 46
Scoring by Team:
Tug Valley (17-9): Channing Preece 14, Nathan Brewer 12, Austin Vance 12, Michael Evans 9, Derek Hayes 8, Mason Pack 4, Jordan Colegrove 2, Dustin Maynard 2.
Weir (15 – 10): Shawn Burns 11, L.J. Campbell 8, Taylor Collette 7, Tyler Taflan 6, Wes Lengyel 5, Justin Horstman 4, Bill Perkins 3, Tyler Salko 2.
Free Throw Shooting:
Tug Valley 12 of 13 = 92.3 percent.
Weir 9 of 16 = 56.3 percent
Game Attendance: 8,376
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