Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

COAL GROVE — The first half was up for grabs. The second half belonged strictly to the Coal Grove Hornets.

After leading by just 7 points at halftime, the Hornets dominated in the second half and rolled past the River Valley Raiders 64-42 on senior night Wednesday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

Conor Markins scored a game-high 20 points to lead three Coal Grove players in double figures. Brandon Adkins scored 14 points and Alex Bare added 10 points.

Bare and Trevor Barrett are the lone seniors for the Hornets who improved to 13-4 and 5-3 in the league.

Ethan Dovernbarger and Tyler Twyman scored 14 points each for the Raiders (3-14, 1-7).

Markins got the hot hand early with 9 points in the first quarter to give Coal Grove an 11-6 lead.

Sean Paulus scored 6 points in the second quarter including a key steal and layup with 50 seconds left that gave the Hornets a 28-21 halftime lead.

Dovernbarger scored 9 points and Twyman 6 as they combined for all 15 River Valley points in the second quarter.

Coal Grove’s offense picked up in the third quarter as Bare and Adkins scored 6 points each and the lead grew to 48-36.

The Hornets’ defense held the Raiders to just 6 points in the fourth quarter and they scored 16 to win going away.

On Friday, Coal Grove visits South Point in a league game and then travels to Deming, Ky., on Saturday.

River Valley 6 15 15 6 = 42

Coal Grove 11 17 20 16 = 64

RIVER VALLEY (3-14, 1-7): Jacob Gilmore 0 0 0-0 0, Joseph Loyd 0 1 0-0 3, Kyle Bays 0 0 0-0 0, Tyler Twyman 1 4 0-0 14, John Qualls 0 0 0-0 0, Brycen Hatfield 0 0 0-0 0, Justin Rusk 2 0 3-6 7, Ethan Dovernbarger 5 0 4-6 14, Seann Roberts 2 0 0-0 4. Totals: 10 5 7-12 42. Fouled out: Hatfield.

COAL GROVE (13-4, 5-3): Trevor Barrett 0 0 0-0 0, Alex Bare 4 0 2-2 10, Jonathan Joseph 0 0 0-0 0, Sean Paulus 1 1 3-3 8, Isaiah Gunther 0 0 0-0 0, Brandon Adkins 6 0 2-5 14, Heath Estep 0 0 0-0 0, Conor Markins 7 1 3-3 20, Bryan Steele 0 0 1-2 1, Joe Akers 1 0 0-0 2, Austin “Red” Pleasants 4 0 1-2 9, Jacob Pierce 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 2 12-17 64. Fouled out: Barrett.