Bill Lusk | WVOW Sports
NAUGATUCK A late fourth quarter Man rally came up short as Class A No. 10 and second-seeded Tug Valley defeated third-seeded Man 745-34 on Monday night, Feb. 20, in the Class A Region 4 Section 1 tournament at Tug Valley High School.
The Lady Hillbillies trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half before managing to cut the deficit to five points on two occasions in the fourth quarter, however the Lady Panthers iced the game from the free throw line.
Kenzie Browning led Tug Valley with 19 points while Haven Deskins had nine, Haley Gillman eight and Bailee Hall seven for the Lady Panthers.
Kami Anderson and Jenna Baisden led Man with nine points each. Tori Honaker added seven and Jace Baisden five for the Lady Hillbillies.
Tug Valley improved to 8-9 with the win and advanced to the sectional championship where they were defeated by top-seeded and seventh-ranked Tolsia 49-39 on Thursday night.
The Lady Panthers, who are 8-10 following the loss to Tolsia, will face eighth-ranked and Region 4 Section 2 champion Gilmer County in one of two Region 4 co-championships on March 2.
Man, who was fielding a team for the first time since the 2019-20 season, finished the year with a record of 5-14.
Tug Valley 45, Man 34
Man (5-14)
Anderson 9, McCoy 4, Baisden, Je. 9. Baisden, Ja. 5, Honaker 7.
Tug Valley (8-9)
Gillman 8, Hall 7, Justice 2, Browning 19, Deskins 9.
Man 6 7 8 13- 34
Tug Valley 8 13 9 15- 45