COAL GROVE - The Coal Grove Hornets liked being ahead. They liked winning even better.

Coal Grove jumped out to a quick lead and never trailed in beating the River Valley Raiders 65-62 Tuesday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

"We got the lead and never gave it up. The kids really wanted this game," Hornets coach Darrell Humphreys said. "Our kids wanted to prove their win at River Valley wasn't a fluke."

Randy Wise led three players in double figures with 15 points and four assists. Jim Lemon had 14 points and 14 rebounds while Evan Melvin added 14 points and pulled down eight rebounds.

Coal Grove had 39 rebounds.

"We did a really nice job on the boards, especially early," Humphreys said. "Evan Melvin had a really nice game. He had eight rebounds and that's not bad for a 5-10 kid in a game with a lot. (Adam) Bare and (Tyler) Sexton gave us a nice scoring punch off the bench."

Colby Reese scored 18 points and Steven Harder 16 to pace River Valley (9-9, 4-5).

Coal Grove opened up a 9-2 lead to start the game and led 19-12 as Wise hit a pair of 3-pointers and Lemon added 5 points.

Melvin scored 6 points and Bare hit a pair of buckets in the second quarter to offset 6 points by Harder and it was 32-25 at the break.

Reese nailed a pair of 3-pointers and a pair of foul shots in the third quarter as River Valley got within 46-43.

Reese had 9 more points in the fourth quarter, but Wise hit a 3-pointer and connected on 5 of 6 from the foul line while Lemon scored twice inside to help Coal Grove maintain its lead.

"Randy did a nice job of stepping up down the stretch," Humphreys said.

River Valley12131819-62

Coal Grove19131419-65

RIVER VALLEY (9-9, 4-5):

Chris Roush 2 1 2-2 9, Cory Ehman 1 1 0-0 5, Darren Clark 0 2 0-0 6, John Caston 0 0 0-2 0, Derek Smith 2 0 2-3 6, Michael Cordell 1 0 0-0 2, Colby Reese 4 2 4-6 18, Steven Harder 8 0 0-0 16. Totals: 18

(6)

8-11

62. Fouls: 24. Fouled out: Roush.

COAL GROVE (9-9, 6-3):

Zach Huber 1 0 2-4 4, Evan Melvin 5 0 4-7 14, Justin Hyland 3 0 0-4 6, Randy Wise 0 3 6-8 15, Tyler Sexton 3 0 0-0 6, Jim Lemon 6 0 2-2 14, Adam Bare 3 0 0-0 6. Totals: 21

(3)

14-25

65. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 16-23=39 (Lemon 14, E. Melvin 8). Steals 6 (Wise 2). Assists: 7 (Wise 4). Turnovers: 24.