WILLOW WOOD - The Coal Grove Hornets erased mistakes with clutch plays and clutch shooting.

After committing 20 turnovers the first half and falling behind by eight points at the half, Coal Grove rallied to tie the game in regulation and then beat the Symmes Valley Vikings 80-72 in overtime.

"We're fortunate to win. We had 20 turnovers the first half and most of those were self-inflicted," Darrell Humphreys said. "We gave them the opportunities to score."

Symmes Valley had the lead late in the fourth quarter only to have Evan Melvin make two free throws to tie the game with 27 seconds to go. The Vikings regained the lead, but the Hornets came up with a steal and Tommy Pemberton took the deflection in for the score to tie the game and force the overtime.

The Vikings (3-3) were guilty of their own mistakes, but coach Alvin Carpenter said it is to be expected when you're suffering through growing pains.

"We're young but we're getting better. We're still making mistakes at the wrong time," Carpenter said. "I thought (Justin) Holland and (Chase) Higgins both stepped up and played really well."

Jim Lemon had a career-high 29 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while Brandon Rymer scored 25 points to lead the Hornets, 3-2. Pemberton had 19 points.

"Tonight was Evan Melvin's first extensive playing time at the varsity level, and he and Randy Wise came in and sparked us," said Humphreys. "Jimmy Lemon had a big game and kept us close the first half. Tommy Pemberton had a monster second half."

Jarrod Shafer led the Vikings with 19 points. Chris Elswick scored 17, Kyle Gilmore 11 and Justin Holland 10.

Lemon scored 10 points in the first quarter as Coal Grove took a 17-15 lead. Chris Elswick had seven points including a 3-pointer as the Vikings rallied to take a 36-28 halftime advantage.

Pemberton had 12 points in the third quarter as Coal Grove closed to within 52-45. Lemon had seven points and Pemberton six to fuel the fourth-quarter rally.

The Hornets converted 7 of 9 from the line in the overtime period. For the game they were 20 of 33 at the line. Symmes Valley made only 11 of 24 attempts.

"We didn't make our free throws, and we had the people shooting them that we wanted," Carpenter said. "Coal Grove didn't shoot that well, but they made them when they had to."

In the reserve game, Symmes Valley won 45-40 as Ferguson scored 22 points. Coal Grove (4-1) was led by J.D. Elswick with 17 and Matt Melvin had nine.

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Sym. Valley152116137-72

COAL GROVE (3-2):

Shane Bridges 0 0 0-0 0, Brandon Rymer 6 2 7-9 25, Justin Hyland 1 0 1-2 3, Tyler Sexton 0 0 0-0 0, Jim Lemon 11

7-14

29, Luke Tackett 0 0 0-0 0, Tom Pemberton 9 0 1-4 19, Evan Melvin 0 0 4-4 4, Randy Wise 0 0 0-0 0, Jim Hankins 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 27

2

20-33

80. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: Wise. Rebounds: 17-24=41 (Lemon 13, Pemberton 8). Steals: 11 (Rymer 5, Sexton 3). Assists: 12 (Bridges 4). Turnovers: 27.

SYMMES VALLEY (3-3):

Chris Elswick 4 2 3-5 17, Kyle Gilmore 3 1 2-3 11, Cory Burcham 2 1 0-4 5, Seth Colegrove 1 0 0-0 2, Jarrod Shafer 3 3 4-6 19, Justin Holland 4 0 2-4 10, Matt Owens 1 0 0-0 2, John Wiseman 2 0 0-0 4, Craig Neal 0 0 0-2 0, Chase Higgins 1 0 0-0 2, Michael White 0 0 0-0 0, Matt Owens 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 20

(7)

11-24

72. Fouls: 29. Fouled out: Higgins, Shafer, Gilmore. Rebounds: 29 (Shafer 8, Holland 7). Steals: 13 (Holland 4). Assists: 11 (Holland 5). Turnovers: 18.