Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

PEDRO — There’s an old saying that goes, “You play like you practice.”

The Rock Hill Redwomen turned a good week of practice into a good game effort as they handed the Coal Grove Lady Hornets their first loss in an Ohio Valley Conference game Thursday, 50-48.

“We had a good team effort. I was proud of them. We played good defense. (Brook) Knipp caught fire and (Kaci) Russell came on strong for us. A lot of this was because we had a good week of practice and everyone played together,” said Rock Hill coach Greg Damron.

Knipp scored 9 points in the first quarter as Rock Hill took a 14-10 lead.

Ashley Adkins came back with 10 points in the second quarter as Coal Grove got within 24-22 at the half.

Adkins scored 8 points in the third quarter but the Redwomen held onto their two-point lead at 38-36.

Russell had 7 points in the fourth quarter before fouling out as Rock Hill maintained its lead.

The Lady Hornets (4-1, 1-1) missed two foul shots with 1.3 seconds left and the Redwomen held on for the win.

“That’s a huge win. We learned a lot tonight. We faced a lot of adversity and played in a tight ballgame and we played well under pressure,” said Damron.

Knipp led the Redwomen (2-2, 1-1) with 22 points including three 3-pointers and 5 of 5 from the line. Russell had 11 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals. Sami Dillon had 5 rebounds and Tommi Butler 4 rebounds.

Adkins led all scorers with 24 points. Jacy Jones added 9 points.

Rock Hill plays Alexander at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in the Wellston Classic.

Coal Grove 10 12 14 12 = 48

Rock Hill 14 10 14 12 = 50

COAL GROVE (4-1, 1-1): Ashley Adkins 4 2 10-15 24, Jacy Jones 3 1 0-0 9, Darrien Hankins 2 0 3-6 7, Morgan Sites 0 0 1-3 1, Taylor Fleming 0 1 1-3 4, Katey Erwin 1 0 1-7 3, Totals: 10 4 14-34 48. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.

ROCK HILL (2-2, 1-1): Brook Knipp 4 3 5-5 22, Kaci Russell 5 0 1-2 11, Brooklyn Masie 0 0 0-2, Kelsey Blagg 1 0 0-0 2, Katie Johnson 3 0 2-4 8, Lindy Simpson 0 1 0-3 3, Tommi Butler 2 0 0-0 4, Sami Dillon 90 0 0-0 0, Madison Damron 0 0 0-0 0, Sarah Travis 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 4 8-13 50. Rebounds: 31 (Russell 7, Dillon 5, Butler 4). Assists: 13 (Damron 2, Travis 2). Fouls: 25. Fouled out: Russell, Damron, Johnson.