COAL GROVE - The danger warnings were there and the Coal Grove Hornets used all the necessary emergency procedures.

Coal Grove relied on its solid defense and cohesive teamwork to get past the South Point Pointers 43-39 Friday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

"We said all week this was a dangerous team. They have a lot of good athletes. We used good defense and teamwork to win. South Point can be explosive," Hornets coach Darrell Humphreys said.

Coal Grove won despite shooting only 13 of 41 from the field (31 percent) and 15 of 30 from the foul line.

"We didn't shoot well from the field or the line. When you look at those numbers, you'd think there is no way we could win, but these guys are finding a way," Humphreys said.

Adam Bare had 11 points to lead the Hornets who are 6-4 and 4-0 in the OVC, one-half game ahead of Chesapeake. Justin Hyland had eight rebounds and Tyler Sexton grabbed six.

South Point (2-7, 1-2) was led by J.T. Terry with 16 points and Jeremiah Taylor had 10.

Terry scored 6 points and Dave Absher 4 in the first quarter as South Point took a 12-4 lead.

Terry hit a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter, but Coal Grove rallied to cut the deficit to 20-17 at the half on a 3-pointer by Hyland at the buzzer.

Hyland hit another 3-pointer and four different players scored as Coal Grove held the Pointers to a single basket by Taylor in the third quarter to take a 26-22 lead.

The Hornets were just 13 of 24 from the line in the fourth quarter but Randy Wise made 5 of 9 and Jim Lemon 2 of 2 down the stretch as the Hornets held on for the win. Terry had 6 points, Ryan Hong 5 and Taylor 6 as each team scored 17 points in the final quarter.

"Lemon turned an ankle in practice and we didn't think he could play at all. But like a senior captain, he suited up and gutted it out and hit a couple of key free throws for us," Humphreys said.

In the reserve game, Coal Grove won 54-46 as Derek Otta had 17 points and Tyler Branch 15. Zach Norris led the Pointers with 12 points.

South Point128217-39

Coal Grove413917-43

SOUTH POINT (2-7, 1-2):

Ryan Hong 1 1 0-1 5, J.T. Terry 5 2 0-0 16, Dave Absher 3 0 1-2 7, Chase McWhorter 0 0 1-2 1, Jeremiah Taylor 4 0 2-6 10, Chris Brown 0 0 0-0 0, Heath Bridges 0 0 0-0 0, Adam Barnett 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13

(3)

4-11

39. Fouls: 25. Fouled out: Hong, McWhorter, Absher.

COAL GROVE (6-3, 4-0):

Zach Huber 3 0 2-4 8, Evan Melvin 1 0 0-0 2, Matt Melvin 1 0 0-0 2, Justin Hyland 0 2 3-4 9, Randy Wise 1 0 5-13 7, Tyler Sexton 1 0 0-2 2, Jim Lemon 0 0 2-2 2, Adam Bare 4 0 3-5 11. Totals: 13-41

(2-12)

15-30

43. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 10-15=25 (Hyland 8, Sexton 6). Assists: 6 (Lemon 4). Steals: 9 (Wise 3, Lemon 3). Turnovers: 10. Blocked shots: 1 (Bare).