WILLIAMSON — Class A No. 3 Tug Valley had a good weekend at the 21st annual Hatfield McCoy Shootout as they picked up a pair of wins over Pike County foes Shelby Valley and Belfry.
Tug Valley (13-3) knocked off the Pirates 62-49 on Friday night as the two teams faced off for the first time since the 2018 season and then the Panthers beat the Wildcats in a 69-66 OT thriller to cap off the weekend of basketball inside the historic Williamson Fieldhouse on Saturday night.
“Shelby Valley has got a chance to go to Rupp Arena, I knew it was going to be a tough game,” Panther coach Garland “Rabbit” Thompson said after the win on Saturday. “We got behind some there, but the kids battled and never gave up. We made just enough plays down the stretch to pull one out. We’re tickled to death to get one here in the Fieldhouse, it’s always special to come up here and win.”
The game was back-and-forth all night long as Shelby Valley jumped out to a 16-12 lead after the first quarter but Parker Davis ignited a Tug Valley surge as he scored 11 points in the second quarter and put the Panthers on top 31-28 at halftime.
The Wildcats came out with the hot hand to start the second half as they retook the lead early in the third quarter and then a Russ Osborne half court heave at the end of the period gave them their largest lead of the night at 50-42 heading into the fourth.
In the fourth quarter Parker Davis and Joey Gollihue each drilled a pair of three-pointers to help the Panthers claw their way back in front as Gollihue’s second long ball of the period gave them a 66-65 lead with just over a minute to play.
Tug Valley later had the ball with less then10 seconds left and the score the same and they turned it over to give Shelby Valley another chance. The Wildcat’s Preston Johnson was fouled going to the basket with just four seconds left and he split the two foul-shots to tie the game and sent it to the extra period.
In the overtime, Tug’s Ashton Davis sank a corner jumper on their first trip down the floor and that proved to be all the Panthers would need as they would clamp down on defense and hold Shelby Valley scoreless for the extra frame and come away with the three-point win.
“Good team effort, I’m proud of them,” Thompson said. “We had a lot of guys step up and make some plays tonight. I’m proud of the Tug Valley nation showing up as well, I could hear the crowd getting into it there. Our kids really feed off that.”
Parker Davis paced all scorers on the night with 27 points to go along with a team high five assists. Gollihue followed him with 19 points as they both connected on four three-pointers.
Ashton Davis joined them in double-figures with 12 points while Kaden Hale came off the bench to chip in five.
In the win over Belfry on Friday night, the Panthers got off to a slow start and the Pirates battled to keep the game close much of the night. Tug Valley built a 12-6 lead and the margin stayed the same at the half as they led 20-14.
Belfry kept hanging around in the second half as coach Michael Hagy kept feeding big man Jonathan Banks and it was paying off as he scored 11 points in the third quarter.
Banks connected on an old-fashioned three-point play to cut the Tug Valley lead to four at 37-33 with 2:35 to go in the third quarter.
Just a few plays later bad luck would strike Belfry as Banks had to exit with an ankle injury and the Panthers then mounted a 12-0 run to take a 49-33 lead on back-to-back jumpers from Gollihue and put the game out of reach.
“Michael (Hagy) does a good job with those kids,” Thompson said. “It’s Belfry and Tug Valley. There’s a bit of a rivalry. They’re playing better for him. We finally got a bit of a run there in the fourth quarter against them. I’m glad to get out of here with two W’s.”
Gollihue paced Tug Valley with 19 points while Ashton Davis was right on his heels with 17 points and Marcum joined them in double-figures with 10 points.
Kaden Hale added seven points off the bench for Tug Valley while Braydun Ferris chipped in five.
Banks finished the game with 17 points for Belfry despite not playing a minute in the fourth quarter while point guard Cody Erwin also tallied 17 points, including a season high four made three-pointers.
Freshman Cayden Varney was next on the Pirate scoresheet with six points.
The pair of wins for Tug Valley improves them to 13-3 on the season as they have now won nine straight games since a 65-58 loss to Logan on Jan. 7.
The Panthers have a big week ahead beginning with a date with rival Mingo Central at home on Tuesday, Feb 7 followed up by a clash with Class A No. 2 Webster County on Wednesday afternoon in the Par Mar Shootout at WV State University.
Tug Valley is then set to close out the week with a rematch at home against Belfry on Saturday night.
Score by Quarters
SVHS: 16 12 22 16 0 — 66
TVHS: 12 19 11 24 3 — 69
Scoring
SV: P. Johnson 23, E. Sykes 14, R. Osborne 12, C. Lovins 7, C. Fuller 7, B. Coleman 3
TV: P. Davis 27, J. Gollihue 19, A. Davis 12, K. Hale 5, B. Marcum 4, J. Wagoner 2
Score by Quarters
BHS: 6 14 13 16 — 49
TVHS: 12 14 13 23 — 62
Scoring
B: J. Banks 17, C. Erwin 17, Cayden Varney 6, C. Woolum 4, K. Hensley 3, N. Brown 2, E. Daniels 0
TV: J. Gollihue 19, A. Davis 17, B. Marcum 10, K. Hale 7, B. Ferris 5, P. Preece 2, J. Wagoner 2, B. Elia 0
