COAL GROVE - Taking charge put the Fairland Dragons in command.

The Dragons aggressive play led to a 49-35 win Friday over the Coal Grove Hornets in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

Driving to the basket enabled Fairland to make 16 of 29 from the foul line. An aggressive defense held Coal Grove to 26.9 shooting percentage from the field on a 14 for 52 effort.

"We were very aggressive taking the ball inside right from the start of the game and getting rebounds," Dragons coach John McClung said.

"We played well defensively. Everyone played really hard and excited. (Jeremy) Pritt played a solid game for us on both ends of the floor."

Pritt had 12 points and 10 rebounds as Fairland evened its record at 6-6 and went to 2-3 in the OVC. Kendall Staggs had 10 points, five assists, and five steals. Matt Clark added eight points and five rebounds.

Brandon Rymer had a game-high 15 points for the Hornets (4-8, 0-5). Tommy Pemberton scored 10 points.

"Our kids played hard, but give Fairland credit. They did what they needed to win," Hornets coach Darrell Humphreys said.

"The last couple of games we can't get a shot to drop. They go in and out and that's been the name of our game. Plus, we have too many unforced turnovers and you can't expect to win games playing like that."

A slow first quarter saw Coal Grove take a 7-6 lead. Pritt then scored six points and Kyle Wise came off the bench to score five points including a key 3-pointer as Fairland took a 22-12 halftime lead.

Rymer had eight points and Pemberton four in the third quarter as Coal Grove got within 33-24. Clark had six points for Fairland, but Nolan Love hit a big 3-pointer just before the buzzer that got the lead to up to nine.

With Daniel Spears and Pruitt scoring five points each and the Dragons converting 11 of 20 from the foul line, Fairland continued to pull away.

Rymer tried to keep the Hornets close with seven points, but Coal Grove was guilty of seven turnovers in the quarter.

"The first half we missed a bunch of layups, then we missed a lot of foul shots at the end. We could have put the game away earlier," McClung said.

Coal Grove751211-35

Fairland6161116-49

COAL GROVE (4-8, 0-5):

Brandon Rymer 3 3 0-0 15, Randy Wise 1 1 0-0 5, Tyler Sexton 1 1 0-0 5, Tommy Pemberton 4 0 2-4 10, Jimmy Lemon 0 0 0-0 0, Shane Bridges 0 0 0-0 0, Evan Melvin 0 0 0-0 0, Luke Tackett 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-52 (5-14)

2-6

35. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: Lemon, Bridges. Rebounds 26. Assists: 5. Turnovers: 18.

FAIRLAND (6-6, 2-3):

Kyle Wise 1-3 1-2 1-2 6, Kendall Staggs 1-4 1-5 5-9 10, Nolan Love 0-5 1-2 3-4 6, Matt Clark 2-10 1-1 1-2 8, Jeremy Pritt 4-9 0-0 4-6 12, Daniel Spears 1-4 1-2 2-6 7, Matt Burd 0-1 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-48

(5-12)

16-29

49. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 24 (Pritt 10, Clark 5). Assists: 6 (Staggs 5). Steals: 10 (Staggs 5). Turnovers: 16.