COAL GROVE — There were two areas the Rock Hill Redmen need to focus on.

They did.

Rock Hill played solid defense and outrebounded Coal Grove 36-18 to beat the Hornets 56-43 Tuesday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

“The key tonight was our defense and we controlled the boards a lot

better than we have in a long time,” Redmen coach Marty Mills said.

K.C. Christian had a triple-double to lead the Redmen as he scored 12 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and had 10 assists.

“We’re not watching (Christian) play now. We’re working with him and he’s getting the ball to the open man,” Mills said.

“Nathan Davenport did a good job neutralizing their guys inside. Mike Ison hit some big shots, Mark DePriest had a solid game in a lot of areas and Wes Pierson did a good job keeping Randy Wise out of the lane.”

Mike Ison had 15 points and Davenport scored 10 points for the Redmen (6-6, 3-3).

Randy Wise led Coal Grove (3-10, 0-6) with 15 points. Adam Bare had 12 points and 12 rebounds while Evan Melvin added 11 points.

Christian, DePriest and Ison each had five points in the first quarter as Rock Hill took a 15-3 lead.

“We can’t seem to get off to a good start. I can’t ask for the kids to play any harder than they’re playing,” Hornets coach Mike Waller said.

Wise had eight points in the second quarter as each team scored 13 points and it was 28-16 at the half.

Melvin’s six points in the third quarter got Coal Grove within 38-28.

The Hornets got within six points in the fourth quarter, but Davenport scored eight points including

4 of 6 from the foul line. The Redmen were 9 of 12 from the line as a team in the final quarter.

Rock Hill15131018=56

Coal Grove3131215=43

ROCK HILL (6-6, 3-3): K.C. Christian 4 1 1-3 12, Wes Pierson 2 0 2-2 6, Nathan Davenport 3 0 4-6 10, Matt Matney 1 0 2-2 4, Mark DePriest 2 0 1-2 5, Mike Ison 2 3 2-2 15, Adam Butler 2 0 0-0 4, Aaron Stumbo 0 0 0-0 0, Derek Robinson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16

4

12-17

56. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 10-26=36 (Christian 13, DePriest 6, Davenport 6). Steals: 11 (DePriest 5). Turnovers: 21. Assists: 15 (Christian 10).

COAL GROVE (3-10, 0-6): Zach Murphy 1 1 0-0 5, Evan Melvin 5 0 1-2 11, Randy Wise 1 4 1-3 15, Adam Bare 5 0 2-5 12, Chris Dirling 0 0 0-0 0, Tyler Branch 0 0 0-0 0, Matt Melvin 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12

5

4-10

43. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: Matt Melvin. Rebounds: 4-14=18 (Bare 12). Steals: 6. Turnovers: 18. Assists: 6.