NAUGATUCK - The Tug Valley Panthers staged a black-out against the Poca Dots Thursday in the stands and on the scoreboard. The rabid crowd showed their solidarity by dressing all in black to support the Panthers and the Panthers answered back with a blowout securing the regional championship and a trip to the Boys AA State Tournament in Charleston.

“Poca gave us a little trouble in the 1st, but I think our size bothered them,” said Panthers Head Coach Garland Thompson.

And that was the only quarter Poca posed any type of a threat.

Tug Valley went on a tear scoring 19 points and holding the one-man-show of Poca’s Jason Cuffee to only 8 points. Cuffee was the only scorer for Poca during that quarter.

After that, the game and the trip to Charleston was a done deal. Tug Valley’s fans echoed the sentiment with chants of “you can’t stop us” and “come and watch us”.

Coach Thompson commented on his players after the game.

“Channing (Preece) had a great game tonight,” continued Thompson. “We go as he goes.”

“We’ve got about 5 or 6 unselfish guys who can score and we’re very fortunate for that.”

Preece and Austin Vance both led the Panthers in scoring with 15 points each. Together, they sank all five of Tug Valley’s three-pointers with Preece hitting three and Vance hitting two. Michael Evans and Nathan Brewer both scored 10 points, Mason Pack scored 8, Cody Varney sank 3 points, and Austin Brewer, Justin Kirk and Justin Runyon each scored 2 points.

The Dot’s Jason Cuffee scored the game high for Poca with 27 points, making up over two-thirds of Poca’s offense. Clinton Parson got on the board for Poca with 4 points and Hunter Hawley, Matt Perkins, and Tanner Sigman each scored 2.

Poca ends their season with a record of 15-9.

Tug Valley (16-5) will play in the Boys AA State Tournament beginning Wednesday, March 17 at a time to be announced at a later date.

TVHS 14 19 18 16-67

PHS 10 8 8 13-39