Preview: Mingo Central Miners vs. Tug Valley Panthers
After three games on the road, Mingo Central is heading back home. They will take on the Tug Valley Panthers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Mingo Central will be strutting in after a victory while Tug Valley will be coming in after a defeat.
On Tuesday, Mingo Central was able to grind out a solid win over Ritchie County, taking the game 49-41.
Meanwhile, Tug Valley's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Monday after their fourth straight defeat. They lost to St. Joseph Central at home by a decisive 54-40 margin. While losing is never fun, Tug Valley can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' West Virginia basketball rankings (they are ranked 95th, while St. Joseph Central is ranked 35th).
Despite the defeat, Tug Valley saw an underclassman step up: Bailee Hall scored 23 points along with six rebounds and two steals. That was a full 57.5% of Tug Valley's points, marking the third time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Haven Deskins was another key contributor, scoring nine points along with seven assists.
Mingo Central's win bumped their record up to 11-8. As for Tug Valley, they have been struggling recently as they've lost 11 of their last 12 games, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-17 record this season.
Mingo Central strolled past Tug Valley in their previous matchup back in February of 2020 by a score of 73-55. Will Mingo Central repeat their success, or does Tug Valley have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
