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Mountain Lions outlast Tug Valley in OT

HAMBLETON — Round 1 of the battle between the top Class A teams in the state went to Tucker County on Saturday.

The top-rated Mountain Lions moved to 9-0 with a 65-63 overtime win over No. 2 Tug Valley in a game that came down to the wire.

In a rematch of last year’s state title game won by the Panthers, Tucker County secured the win by connecting on three free throws inside of :30 left to play in the extra session.

Tug Valley took a 63-62 lead in overtime when Ethan Ferrell scored inside off a pass from freshman Braydun Ferris with 1:00 remaining.

Ferris had a game-high 25 points in the game.

Garrett Wilfong then gave the Mountain Lions a 64-63 with a pair from the charity stripe with 30 ticks left, and Trevan Bonner added another free throw with five seconds left to make it a three-point lead.

The Panthers then misfired on the other end as a shot at the buzzer was off the mark.

The Class A battle was set to be contested on Friday evening as Tug Valley arrived in the area on Thursday.

But the weather conditions moved the game to Saturday, with the Mountain Lions’ game at Elkins being postponed to this Saturday.

Bonner tossed in 16, Mikey Mitchell 14, Wilfong 11 and Samuel Marks 10 in the win.

Cayden Arnold just missed putting five players in double figures in the win with nine.

The Panthers had forced OT by overcoming a 54-49 deficit with 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

They took a 57-56 lead on Ferris’ bucket with 1:10 left in regulation, before a Wilfong free throw with one minute remaining tied the game at 57-57 to force OT.

Tucker County started the game on a 9-0 run but Tug Valley responded with a 13-2 surge to lead by two at the end of one quarter.

The Panthers carried a 28-26 lead advantage into halftime and a 43-42 cushion after three quarters.

Carson Newsome chipped in 15 points and Bryson Elia 13 for Tug Valley, which is now 4-2 on the season and will entertain the Mountain Lions in a rematch on Feb. 1.

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