CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Aaron Muncy scored 21 points and No. 1 Tug Valley defeated third-seeded Charleston Catholic 58-41, becoming the first public school since 2001 to win the Class A state title.
Tug Valley (25-3), which won the Class AA championship last season before moving down in classification, took the lead late in the second quarter and never allowed Charleston Catholic room for a comeback, holding the Irish to 15 points in the second half.
“There’s no three sweeter words right now than back-to-back,” said Tug Valley coach Garland Thompson, who was an assistant coach of Williamson, the last public school to win a Class A banner. “I’m just tickled to death for our community, school, and most importantly our four seniors and that team celebrating on that floor out there.”
Muncy scored 16 of his game-high total in the first half, connecting on 4-of-7 from 3-point range.
“I got a lucky bounce on my first 3 there,” Muncy said. “When I saw that go in I had a lot of confidence in myself.”
“We’ve seen many great guards throughout the years, but never three like that together.” — Charleston Catholic coach Bill McClanahan on Tug Valley’s trio of Aaron Muncy, Austin Brewer and Mikey Newsome.
Austin Brewer contributed 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field for the Panthers, who shot 46 percent overall.
“I just did my thing today. I drove to the basket and dished it out,” Brewer said, who had five assists as well. “If I had a layup then I would take what they gave me.”
Counting Mikey Newsome’s 10 points, Tug Valley’s three guards amassed 46 of the Panthers’ 58 points.
“It was just like pick your poison with them,” said Charleston Catholic coach Bill McClanahan. “We’ve seen many great guards throughout the years, but never three like that together.”
Charleston Catholic (24-4) was paced by Nick George’s 13 points. Garrett McCarty added 10 points and Keiffer Hovorka connected on all three of his 3s, scoring nine points.
“I thought we came out and played at our highest level the first eight to 10 minutes,” McClanahan said. “Then we leveled off and Tug Valley took advantage of that.”
The all-tournament selections included Muncy, Brewer and Newsome of Tug Valley; David Godwin, Zach Casto and George of Charleston Catholic; Ian Nichols of Tucker County; and David Park of Wheeling Central.
— CJ Ricker