Fort Gay, W. Va. Class 1A Tolsia and Class 4A Spring Valley met for the first time ever on Saturday night and it was the Rebels coming out on top 73-65 in a very entertaining old school Wayne Co. boys basketball game at Rebel Arena.
Rebel Junior Jesse Muncy needed just 6 points for 1,000 for his career and he sunk a long three pointer early in the second quarter to hit the century mark. The game was halted as both fan bases and teams congratulated him for his feat.
The much bigger Timberwolves posed problems for the Rebels early but Tolsia adjusted by picking up the pace of the game and trailed 19-18 after one period.
In the second Spring Valley took an eight point lead 31-23 before Tolsia closed out the first half with a 9-3 behind a Steven Ward three pointer and put back and only trailed 34-32 at the break.
Austin Salmons hit a three pointer early in the third to make it 35-34 and the Rebels never trailed again. They pushed the lead out to eight points a couple times but Spring Valley kept within striking distance but never could get the lead. Tolsia closed out the game by going 13 of 17 from the charity stripe.
Tolsia was led by Tyler Johnson with 21 points, Austin Salmons tallied 17 points, Jesse Muncy scored 15 points, Rob Cantrell 8 points, Gavin Meadows 7 points and Steven Ward 5 points.
The Rebels hit 6 three pointers and went 23 of 32 from the foul line.
Spring Valley was led by Corbin Page with 20 points, Dalton Fouch 15 points, Jaxon Fortner 10 points, Chase Maynard 8 points, Jack Roy and Ty Smith 4 points each, Ben Turner 2 points.
The Timberwolves hit 4 three pointers and went 11 of 17 from the charity stripe.
SPHS 18 16 14 17 = 65
THS 13 19 22 19 = 73
Tolsia 73 Rose Hill Christian 70 ( Friday )
Tyler Johnson scored the final five points of the game including a three pointer as time expired.
Tolsia Senior Tyler Johnson hit a three pointer as time expired to lift the Rebels to the opening night road victory over the Royals at Charles Stewart Gymnasium.
Johnson led five Rebels in double figures with 20 points, Jesse Muncy tallied 17 points and a career high 9 rebounds, Gavin Meadows scored 13 points and 6 rebounds, Rob Cantrell 12 points and 8 rebounds, Austin Salmons scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Tolsia hit 6 three pointers and went 9 of 11 from the charity stripe.
Austin Salmons went 5 of 6 from the foul line versus Rose Hill.
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Rose Hill was led by Stacy Jackson and Tate Akers with 19 points each, Luke Larsen 16 points, Kai Coleman 7 points, Chase Pennington 6 points and Luke Pennington 4 points.
The Royals hit 9 three pointers and went 6 of 12 from the free throw line.
THS 18 15 22 22 = 73
RHCS 19 15 21 19 = 70
Tolsia was supposed to travel to #4 Man for the first section game of the season Tuesday night but Man had to postponed because of COVID issues within the team on Monday. The Rebels will host Van on Saturday for Senior night at Rebel Arena.
Tolsia Head Coach Todd Maynard
COACH’S COMMENTS
“…First off I love Spring Valley, love the community, I live there and coached there for a few years, Love and respect what Cory Maynard has done with the program. But don’t get me wrong it’s a huge win for our program. I think it benefited us playing against Rose Hill and this one being their first one. Not taking anything away from us because we played good enough to win the game. I think our guards are better and showed it tonight. They have two grown men down low that gave us fits but I thought we battled with them all night. I thought we executed the game plan which was a two-three zone and make them beat us from the outside. They done everything we asked them to do. Rob Cantrell, Austin Salmons and Gavin Meadows played huge. They gave up a big height advantage but were up to the challenge. We wanted to run every chance we got. I knew we could beat them down the floor.”
“… We hit some outside shots and it made those guys come out and guard us and bring the away from the basket and not be able to block shots. Salmons hit some big three pointers and Steven Ward came up with five big points in the second quarter in a key stretch for us. He was huge in just the few minutes they he got to play. They were up eight before half and we close within two points at 34-32 at the break. We never let them extend the lead.”
“… In the second half I told our guys once we got the lead let’s close this thing out. We have been prone to let leads slip away and told that are tenured now and show everyone that you guys have grown up and let’s win this ballgame.”
Tolsia Junior Jesse Muncy after passing the 1,000 point mark
“… Coming into high school that was one of my goals. I’m glad it came at home in front of our fans along with my mom and dad and other family members. Starting 2-0 is great but we have along way to go.”’
Tolsia Senior Tyler Johnson after beating Rose Hill
“… I knew it was good when it left my hand, it felt too good not to go in. Glad we could open the season with a win, it was so fun being out there with my teammates. We can celebrate this one for a little while and then we got to get ready for Spring Valley Saturday night.
