by Lloyd Combs
Sports Reporter
  Matthew Baldwin spent four years making significant contributions to the Twin Valley basketball program.
  He was forced to spend the last four minutes of his career on the bench.
  The Panthers lost the 6-foot-7 Baldwin to fouls with 5.2 seconds remaining in regulation and lost to Gate City in overtime, 55-51, in the Region D semifinals Friday night at Castlewood High School.
  The Blue Devils clinched a state tournament berth and denied the Panthers a second straight trip to the Group A playoffs. Gate City defeated Castlewood and won the Region D title on Saturday.
  Baldwin’s fifth foul sent Jamie Hackney to the line and the Gate City junior hit two free throws to force the extra period. The Blue Devils (22-5) scored the final five points of overtime, starting with a driving lay-in by Tihlee Anderson with 45 seconds left.
  “We had to make some big plays,” Gate City coach Scottie Vermillion said. “Tihlee made a big shot.
  “That last play of regulation that was huge. Jamie’s been clutch all year and the big boy (Baldwin) fouled out on the play. That was a double whammy for (Twin Valley).”
  Hackney finished with 19 points and Anderson 17. Only four players scored for Twin Valley, led by Garrett Horne and Hunter Simpson with 16 points apiece. 
  Freshman Josh Smith added 11 points and 10 rebounds and Baldwin left with eight points, nine boards, five blocks and four steals.
  Two key sequences were costly to the Panthers, who turned the ball over 20 times.
  One came late in regulation with 13.5 seconds left, when Twin Valley had two fouls to give without putting the Blue Devils at the line, but allowed Anderson to race uncontested into frontcourt.
  “We wanted to get a quick foul and burn two or three seconds,“ Twin Valley coach Brian Moore said. “But Tihlee (is) so fast. We wanted to deny him the ball, but we couldn’t get to him.”
  The second costly breakdown came in overtime, when Gate City got three offensive rebounds off missed free throws in the final 27.9 seconds. On two occasions the Panthers failed to block out the free throw shooter.
  “We got three big offensive rebounds,” Vermillion said. “We didn’t give them an opportunity to get back and shoot.”
  Simpson scored 11 straight points, 15 overall, in the second quarter, when Twin Valley (19-5) built a 26-19 halftime lead. Gate City went on a 13-2 run in the third quarter and took its first lead on a bucket by
  Anderson with 5:53 left in the period.

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by Lloyd Combs
Sports Reporter
  In a game that finished too late for the details to make last week’s editions of the Mountaineer, Council was eliminated from the Region D girls basketball tournament with a 47-42 quarterfinal loss to J.J. Kelly Tuesday at Castlewood.
  Stephanie Cornett’s layup helped Council (17-7) trim a seven-point deficit to 43-42 with 57 seconds remaining. J.J. Kelly then got a lay-in after beating a full-court press as Kayli Bates found Lauren Mullins breaking to the basket for a lay-up.
  Council missed a potential game-tying three-point attempt and Kelly’s Samantha Brummette made two free throws with 33 seconds remaining to account for the final margin.
  Cornett scored 12 points, Haley Arrington added 11 and Allison Presley scored nine points for the Lady Cobras, who won the BDD tournament the night before.
  “Overall I thought we played pretty well,” Council coach Dave Rasnake. “But we were emotionally tied and physically tired (after playing Monday).
  “I felt like we did a good job defensively. But we didn’t shoot a good percentage and we didn’t shoot well at the free throw line.”
  Brummette led a balanced Kelly attack with 12 points.
  Sarah Saunders added nine points, while Lauren Mullins and Kalen Collins each scored eight points for the Lady Indians.
  It was the first regional tournament appearance for a Council team that played three sophomores and four freshmen all year.
  “We were nervous,” Rasnake added. “We missed five or six uncontested shots. But it was still a game that could have easily gone our way.
  “I give J.J. Kelly a lot of credit. I like the way they play. They play under control. They were cool under pressure.”
  J.J. Kelly (21-7) defeated Rye Cove in a semifinal contest Thursday to earn a state tournament berth and lost to Gate City in Saturday’s Region D finals.