The Coal Grove Hornets were promoted to chairmen of the boards.

The Hornets dominated the boards as they out-rebounded the St. Joseph Flyers 38-13 and pulled away to a 56-45 win Friday night.

“(Rebounding) was the difference and we were aggressive on defense. They had trouble with our trapping out of the 1-3-1,” said Hornets coach Randy Ward.

Flyers coach Kevin Sheridan agreed with Ward’s assessment of the game.

“It seemed like every time they needed a bucket they got it,” said Sheridan. “They were a lot bigger than us and it took its toll. Their size just wore on us.”

St. Joseph took a 17-10 lead in the first quarter as Chad Harvey scored nine points.

But the Hornets went on an 8-0 run to end the quarter and grab an 18-17 lead.

The Hornets also changed their defense in the second quarter and limited Harvey to nine points the rest of the game.

“Harvey had a nice first quarter, but our defense clamped on him after that,” said Ward.

Coal Grove led 30-25 at the break, but St. Joseph got within one point on two occasions in the third quarter. Still, the Hornets wouldn’t relinquish the lead.

“I felt if we could get the lead it might have changed the complexion of the game,” said Sheridan.

The Hornets’ defense held the Flyers to only four points in the fourth quarter as they began pull away.

Wayne Sparks had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets (1-1). Eric Edens had 14 points and three assists while Evan Ferguson added nine points and 10 rebounds. Cody Damron had eight rebounds.

Besides Harvey’s 18 points, Payton Blair scored 12 points.

Coal Grove 18 12 13 13 = 56

St. Joseph 17 8 16 4 = 45

COAL GROVE (1-1): Eric Edens 6 0 2-2 14, Evan Ferguson 4 0 1-2 9, Devin Monnier 0 0 3-8 3, Wayne Sparks 6 0 3-5 15, Dane Haukedahl 2 0 2-4 6, Cody Damron 4 0 1-3 9, Shannon Goodwin 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-38 12-24 56. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 0-2. Rebounds: 15-23=38 (Sparks 10, Ferguson 10, Damron 8). Assists: 9 (Edens 3). Steals: 7 (Sparks 2, Monnier 2). Turnovers: 17.

ST. JOSEPH (2-1): Chad Harvey 7 0 4-7 18, Payton Blair 3 2 0-0 12, Tanner Riley 1 1 0-1 5, Joey Basedow 0 0 0-0 0, T.J. Young 1 0-0 0-0 2, Caleb Blackburn 2 0 4-6 8, Joseph Unger 0 0 0-0 0, Pat Gagai 0-0 0-0 0, George McCown 0 0 0-1 0. Totals: 17-43 8-14 45. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: Basedow. 3-point goals: 3-7. Rebounds: 13 (Harvey 3, Riley 3). Assists: 5 (Blair 2). Steals: 4 (Harvey 2, Basedow 2). Turnovers: 11.