The Tug Valley Panthers made their home debut on Friday night and did not disappoint the home fans as they defeated the Tolsia Rebels, 79-52, in Naugatuck.
After a back and forth opening few minutes of the game, the Panthers (3-0) started to pull away and then took a 17-8 advantage on a Brady Brewer 3-pointer as time expired in the first period. Tug Valley continued to pull away in the second period. As the clock wound down in the half, Kaden Hale was fouled on a shot from half court. He sank 2-of-3 free throws to give him 12 first half points and extend Tug Valley’s lead to 36-18 at the intermission.
The Panthers put the game away in the third quarter behind 9 more points from Hale to hold a 60-31 lead heading into the final quarter. Tolsia (0-4) outscored Tug Valley, 21-19 the fourth quarter, but the Panthers were able to get the win in front of the home crowd.
“I thought tonight was the best we’ve played,” said Tug Valley head coach Garland ‘Rabbit’ Thompson. “We looked very quick. We looked very fresh. They were active and hawking the ball. I thought the pace was very good. We moved the ball a lot quicker. When you move the ball a lot quicker it allows kids to spot up and hit jumpers. It just opens it up for everybody.”
Tolsia head coach Brian Stacy said that his teams is still finding their footing as they keep playing tough competition.
“We have some new kids on the floor,” said Stacy. “We’re running 8 or 9 kids in trying to find the right rotation. We’re shooting bad right now. That doesn’t help matters any, but hopefully that gets better during the season. We could play a bunch of 1-20 teams if we wanted to, but you don’t get better by doing that.”
Kaden Hale led the Panthers with 21 points. Braydun Ferris followed with 16 points, 11 assists and 4 steals. Carson Newsome and Brady Brewer followed with 9 points each. Ethan Ferrell fired in 8 points. Ashton Davis and Jace Hale had 6 points apiece. Bryson Elia recorded 4 points and 7 rebounds.
For Tolsia, Cole Blackburn led the way with 14 points. CJ Waller followed with 10 points and 6 boards. Dorian Reese scored 8 points. Evan Ball had 7 points. Bray Mollette added 5 points. Robert Evans and Brady Smth finished with 4 points apiece.
Tug Valley next plays at home in the Kaydence Maynard Memorial Classic on December 27-28. Tolsia faces Huntington St Joe at home on Monday.
Photos Courtesy of Karen Watts
