That they did.
It appeared as if the Tigers would come away victorious as Chapmanville led by as many as 18 points in the third quarter.
However, the Panthers roared back and erased that deficit as Tug Valley scored an 80-76 victory over Coach Harry Kirk and the Chapmanville Tigers.
Tied at 72 and 74 late in the fourth quarter, Tug Valley got the go-ahead and eventual game-winning bucket with 39 seconds left in the game as 6-foot-3 senior Nathan Brewer scored inside the paint to put the Panthers on top 76-74.
Then with 31.8 seconds left, Chapmanville’s Matt Cook split from the free throw line to pull the Tigers to within 76-75.
Tug Valley’s Cody Varney was then fouled with 28.9 ticks left but missed both free throws. The Panthers’ Channing Preece, though, grabbed the rebound and passed to Michael Evans, who was fouled by Chapmanville’s Todd Terry with 21 seconds to go. Evans hit one of two free throws to give TVHS a 77-75 lead.
Chapmanville was still in the game, however, and had a chance to tie it up but Dustin Woody was only able to split from the free throw line with 6.8 ticks left to make it 77-76.
Brewer was then hacked with 5.3 seconds to go and was sent to the free throw line. He made the first but missed the second. Brewer got his own rebound off the miss and was fouled again with 2.8 ticks left and Tug Valley on top 78-76. This time, Brewer hit both free throws to put the Panthers up by four to clinch the victory.
Tug Valley improved to 6-3 on the season with the win. The Panthers look to be a force to be reckoned with with a month to go in the regular season. TVHS lost just 73-72 earlier in the season to then Class AAA No. 1-ranked South Charleston.
Chapmanville saw its four-game winning streak snapped and fell to 8-3 on the season.
The Tigers and Panthers are set to meet again in the rematch on Feb. 19 at Naugatuck.
A third meeting could be in the cards as well in the upcoming Class AA sectional championship game.
Brooks Cooper led Chapmanville with 22 points. He hit four 3-pointers on the night.
Todd Terry, Chapmanville’s 6-3 senior center, had a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds to go along with his four assists.
Dustin Woody finished with a double-double as well with 13 points and 13 assists.
Matt Cook also broke into double digits in scoring with 12 points and two treys.
Cliff Hall added two makes from beyond the 3-point arc for six points. Ethan Brumfield chipped in with five points.
Brewer paced Coach Garland Thompson’s Panthers with 29 points. Austin Vance had 26, while Preece had 13, Evans eight and Varney four.
The taller Panthers outrebounded Chapmanville 32-30 for the game.
Tug Valley was just 12-of-22 from the foul line, while the Tigers were only 10-of-20.
The Tigers jumped on top of Tug Valley early, leading 16-8 after a Cooper 3 and forcing Thompson to call timeout with 4:21 left in the opening quarter.
Tug Valley then went on a 7-0 run to close the gap to 16-15.
Woody then gave Chapmanville a boost as he made a shot falling out of bounds and was fouled. He completed the three-point play to make it 19-15.
Later, it was a Preece layup which put the Panthers ahead 22-19 with 1:35 left.
Tug Valley led after the fast-paced first quarter by a 26-22 count.
The Tigers regrouped and tied it at 30 with Cooper’s 3-pointer. Woody then put the Orange and Black on top 36-32 with a 3 of his own.
Chapmanville kept the intensity up and finished the quarter on a 17-5 run to lead 47-35 at the half.
The Tigers picked up right where they left off in the early moments of the third quarter.
A 6-0 run gave Chapmanville its biggest lead of the game at 53-35 with 6:43 left. Terry’s layup finished off the run and forced Tug Valley to call timeout.
The Panthers then slowly began to chip away at Chapmanville’s lead, using a 12-3 run, capped off by Preece’s layup, to pull to within 56-47 with 3:30 remaining in the stanza.
A layin by Brewer trimmed Chapmanville’s lead to 60-53 after three periods.
The Tigers tried to stave off Tug Valley’s momentum as Terry scored on an alley-oop lob pass from Zach Maynard with 5:38 left to make it a 64-57 ballgame.
The Panthers, however, weren’t going to go away.
With 4:24 left, Vance drove to the lane for a bucket to trim the Tiger lead to just 64-61.
Chapmanville pushed it back out to 72-64 with Cooper’s drive to the hole at the 2:57 mark.
But Tug Valley had an answer as Preece’s 3-pointer made it 72-67 with 2:47 to go.
With 1:25 left, a hoop by Varney tied it at 72.
Terry’s inside bucket gave Chapmanville the lead again at 74-72 with 1:15 left, but a putback by Brewer with 56 seconds to go tied it up again, 74-74.
Then, in perhaps the turning point of the game, Terry was whistled for a charging call with 54 seconds showing on the clock.
Tug Valley then went ahead for good with Brewer’s bucket at the 39-second mark.
Chapmanville returns to action on Tuesday at home as Class AAA No. 1-ranked and county rival Logan comes to Tiger Town. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. Logan is 11-2 after beating Winfield, 101-76 on Friday night at Willie Akers Arena. The Wildcats beat the Tigers in a memorable 96-91 game on Jan. 12 at Logan before a packed fieldhouse crowd.
The Tigers then play at Scott on Feb. 5 before going to Point Pleasant on Feb. 6 in a Cardinal Conference contest.
Tug Valley was scheduled to play Tolsia on Saturday, weather permitting, at the Williamson Fieldhouse before going to Sherman on Tuesday night.
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