The Mountain Lions (17-8) will now face Tug Valley at 11:15 a.m. Thursday in the semifinals in a rematch of the last two state championship games — both won by the Panthers, who rallied past Ritchie County, 67-61, on Tuesday to advance.

Tuesday morning’s contest was tied at 23-23 at halftime after the Irish closed the first half on a 10-3 run to draw even.

St. Joseph’s took a 27-25 lead early into the third frame but it was all Tucker County from that point as it never trailed again.

Five points from Carson Dearborn and a trey from Mikey Mitchell sent the Mountain Lions on an 8-0 run and a 33-27 advantage with 3:19 to go in the third.

Photos courtesy of the WVSSAC Tucker County’s Jonathan Black puts up a shot against Huntington St. Joseph’s Tuesday morning in Class A state quarterfinal action at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center.

The Mountain Lions carried a 38-34 lead into the final quarter.

A 3-pointer from Dearborn and a basket by Ethan Cummings then treated Tucker County to a 43-34 cushion with 6 minutes to play.

The Irish stayed within four points until Cayden Arnold and Cummings netted baskets to increase the Mountain Lions’ lead to eight points, at 52-44, with 2:30 remaining.

Missed free throws kept Tucker County from pulling away over the final 2 minutes until Mitchell connected on a pair from the charity stripe with :17 left to make it 58-54.

After another free throw for the Mountain Lions, the Irish set the final on a trey by Brody Runyon just before the final horn.

Dearborn led Tucker County with 14 points, hitting all five of his field-goal attempts, followed by Mitchell and Arnold with 12 each.

Xander Lambert and Sam Marks added eight rebounds apiece.

Isaiah Sanders had a game-high 22 points for St. Joseph’s, which ended the season 15-9.

Micaiah Ehirim chipped in 10 points to go along with eight caroms.

Top-seed Greater Beckley Christian will face East Hardy or Parkersburg Catholic in Thursday’s other semifinal.

Tucker County (17-8)

Carson Dearborn 5 1-3 15, Xander Lambert 2 1-2 5, Samuel Marks 3 1-6 7, Ethan Cummings 3 1-4 7, Mikey Mitchell 3 4-6 12, Cayden Arnold 4 3-4 12, Jonathan Black 1 0-0 2, Tyler Ricottilli 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 11-25 59

Huntington St. Joseph’s (15-9)

Micaiah Ehirim 4 1-2 10, Noah Keaton 3 0-2 7, Grady Paynter 1 2-2 4, Isaiah Sanders 7 4-5 22, Cylis Allen 0 5-6 5, Brody Runyon 2 0-0 5, Tucker Watts 1 0-0 2, Brayden McDowell 1 0-0 2, Cole Paynter 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 12-17 57

Tucker County 16 7 15 21 — 59

St. Joseph’s 13 10 11 23 — 57

3-point goals: TC 6 (Dearborn 3, Mitchell 2 and Arnold), SJ 7 (Sanders 4, Ehirim, Keaton and Runyon)