COAL GROVE — Fairland pressed and Coal Grove pushed.

The Fairland Lady Dragons came out pressing Coal Grove, so the Lady Hornets began to push the ball up the court. The result was an impressive start that carried Coal Grove to a 67-54 Ohio Valley Conference win Thursday.

“We came out playing really well. They were pressing us and we were able to break it and get some easy baskets early,” Lady Hornets coach Nick Miller said.

Brittany Harrison did most of the early damage as she scored all 10 of her points as the Lady Hornets took a 24-6 lead.

“That was big. Brittany did a nice job to get us started,” Miller said.

MacKenzie Rucker came off the bench to score 8 points in the second quarter as Fairland battled back to trail 34-25 at the break.

“I give (Fairland coach) Mindy (Chapman) and her girls credit. They just kept coming back. They never stopped playing.”

Samantha Hall added 8 points and Chelsea Markins hit a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter as Coal Grove maintained its lead at 52-43.

Shea Berry scored 9 points to keep Fairland close.

But Coal Grove outscored Fairland 15-11 in the fourth quarter to maintain its share of the OVC lead.

“We switched defenses at the end and I think that kind of bothered them,” Miller said.

“We also got some good minutes from Abby Nance and Tiffany Wallace. Taylor Sexton was out with an injury, so they had to play more and did a nice job.”

Coal Grove (10-3, 6-1) was led by Markins with 26 points including five 3-pointers. Hall had a big game with 23 points.

Berry scored 17 points for Fairland (5-8, 2-5). Megan Auxier had 13 points.

Fairland6191811=54

Coal Grove24101815=67

FAIRLAND (5-8, 2-5): Destinee Spears 1 0 3-6 5, Beth Schlegel 0 0 0-0 0, Megan Auxier 2 3 0-0 13, Shea Berry 5 2 1-2 17, Christin Capper 1 0 0-0 2, Molly Bumgardner 0 0 5-8 5, Erika Smoot 0 0 0-0 0, MacKenzie Rucker 2 0 4-4 8, Emily McMaster 2 0 0-4 4. Totals: 13

5

13-24

54. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None.

COAL GROVE (10-3, 6-1): Tiffany Wallace 0 0 0-0 0, Abby Nance 0 0 0-0 0, Samantha Zornes 1 0 0-1 2, Brittney Harrison 5 0 0-1 10, Danielle Carpenter 0 0 0-0 0, Jordyn Cox 3 0 0-1 6, Chelsea Markins 3 5 5-6 26, Samantha Hall 7 0 9-9 23. Totals: 19

5

14-18

67. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.