Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

COAL GROVE — No one bothered calling the village volunteer fire department Friday night. There appeared to be no one who could extinguish this fire.

Conor Markins was 13 of 19 from the field for the game including six straight shots in the first quarter, and he made 5 of 6 attempts in the second half as he scored a career-high 34 points to lead the Coal Grove Hornets to a 69-36 win over the St. Joseph Flyers.

“My teammates did a good job getting me the ball. Alex (Bare) does a good job recognizing when I’m shooting the ball well,” said Markins.

“Alex did a good job on Mahlmeister and everyone did a good job helping him out.”

Brandon Adkins added 10 points and 9 rebounds for the Hornets (3-0). Markins pulled down 8 rebounds and also had 3 steals and 2 assists.

“(Markins) had a really good night shooting the ball. Give credit to the other guys for getting him the ball,” said Hornets’ coach Jay Lucas. “We played defense. It was a good team effort on defense.”

The Flyers (0-3) struggled offensively against the Hornets’ defense. They made just 11 of 46 floor shots and only four players scored.

Justin Mahlmeister had 24 points, 12 rebounds and two steals to lead the Flyers. Eli Lewis grabbed 11 rebounds.

Markins scored 7 points as Coal Grove jumped out to a 9-1 lead. Mahlmeister gave the Flyers their first basket at the 3:17 mark, and his 3-point play at the 1:59 mark cut the deficit to 11-8.

But Markins made a layup and then drained a triple and it was 16-8. Alex Bare’s 12-footer at the buzzer gave Coal Grove an 18-10 cushion.

The Hornets outscored the Flyers 17-7 in the second quarter — Mahlmeister had 6 of the total — and pulled away to a 35-17 lead at the break.

Markins hit a trifecta with 1:14 on the clock for the final dagger.

Mahlmeister’s 3-point play to begin the second half cut the lead to 35-20, but the Flyers could get no closer.

Markins drove for two straight layups and the defense limited the Flyers to 6 points and it was 50-23.

A 3-pointer by Adkins with under three minutes left gave Coal Grove its biggest lead of the game at 68-33.

St. Joseph 10 7 6 13 = 36

Coal Grove 18 17 15 19 = 69

ST. JOSEPH (0-3): Grant Geswein 0 0 0-0 0, Joseph Payton 0 0 0-0 0, Chris Lewis 0 0 0-0 0, Eli Lewis 2 0 2-6 6, Justin Mahlmeister 7 0 10-10 24, Hunter Pemberton 0 1 1-2 4, Kyle Williams 0 0 0-0 0, Lane Johnson 1 0 0-0 2, Cole Willis 0 0 0-0 0, Shannon Litton 0 0 0-0 0, Trey Young 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11-46 13-18 36. 3-point goals: 1-10. Rebounds: 13-21=34 (Mahlmeister 12, E. Lewis 11). Team rebounds: 3. Assists: 6 (E. Lewis 2). Steals: 6 (Mahlmeister 2). Turnovers: 16. Blocked shots: 4 (E. Lewis 3). Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.

COAL GROVE (3-0): Alex Bare 1 1 1-2 6, Sean Paulus 3 0 0-0 6, Brandon Adkins 3 1 1-2 10, Conor Markins 9 4 4-4 34, Austen Pleasants 0 0 0-0 0, Isaiah Gunther 1 0 3-6 5, Kyle Estep 2 0 1-2 5, Trevor Barrett 0 0 0-0 0, Joe Akers 0 0 1-2 1, John Joseph 0 0 0-2 0, Heath Estep 0 0 1-1 1, Jacob Pierce 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-51 13-21 69. 3-point goals: 6-14. Rebounds: 8-26=34 (Adkins 9, Markins 8). Team rebounds: 4. Assists: 6 (Bare 3, Markins 2). Steals: 6 (Markins 3). Blocked shots: 2 (Adkins, H. Estep). Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None.