COAL GROVE - Just when things were looking bad, the defense started looking good.

Trailing after three quarters, the Coal Grove Lady Hornets used a strong defensive effort in the fourth quarter and some clutch shooting to beat the Lucasville Valley Lady Indians 46-43 Monday.

"We didn't execute and we threw the ball around. But I'll give our defense credit. They played well and held them to 14 points in the second half," Coal Grove coach Nick Miller said.

"We didn't play very well and we didn't shoot the ball very well, but we won and that's all that matters."

Lucasville took a 14-13 lead in the first quarter. Chelsea Markins had 8 points including a 3-pointer to keep Coal Grove close.

Markins had 7 more points in the second quarter but the Lady Hornets found themselves trailing 29-27 at the break.

The scoring began to slow down in the second half but Lucasville managed to up its lead to 38-35 at the end of the third quarter.

But the Coal Grove defense went to work and limited Lucasville to just 5 points in the fourth quarter.Markins hit a 3-pointer that put Coal Grove up by 3 and Samantha Hall sank two free throws with 20 seconds left to make it 46-43 and clinch the win.

"Chelsea hit some big 3s and we shot free throws pretty well," Miller said. "But give Valley credit. They played tough defense."

Markins led Coal Grove with 22 points while Tracy Tackett had 11 points.

In the reserve game, Lucasville Valley won 34-25. C. Merritt had 21 points for Valley while Brittany Harrison and Tiffany Wallace scored 8 each for Coal Grove.

Lucasville141595-43

Coal Grove1314811-46

LUCASVILLE VALLEY (5-6):

Spriggs 0 0 4-7 4, Hull 1 0 0-0 2, Yelley 0 0 0-0 0, Martin 3 0 0-0 6, Bragdon 0 0 0-0 0, Montgomery 4 1 0-0 11, Nordrum 5 0 2-2 12, M. Merritt 3 0 2-4 8. Totals: 16

1

8-13

43. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: None.

COAL GROVE (6-2):

Tiffany Wallace 0 0 0-0 0, Samantha Zornes 1 0 0-0 2, Holli Swarts 0 0 3-4 3, Shanna Klaiber 0 0 0-0 0, Jill Lovejoy 1 0 0-1 2, Tracy Tackett 1 1 6-9 11, Maggie Young 0 0 0-0 0, Chelsea Markins 3 3 7-10 22, Samantha Hall 2 0 2-2 6. Totals: 8

4

19-26

46. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.