Evidently, how you start does matter.

The Coal Grove Hornets jumped out to an early big lead and went on to beat the Symmes Valley Vikings 64-52 Saturday in a non-league game.

Devin Monnier scored seven of his eight points in the first quarter as Coal Grove took a 22-9 lead.

Symmes Valley got within 34-24 at the half and used 12 points by Kris Tibbs in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 45-42. Eric Edens had five of Coal Grove’s 11 points in the quarter.

But Dane Haukedahl scored six points in the fourth quarter as the Hornets outscored the Vikings 19-10 to pull away to the win.

Haukedahl had 14 points and Shannon Goodwin 10 to lead a balanced Coal Grove offense. Eden added 12 points and four assists, Evan Ferguson had nine points and six rebounds, and Wayne Sparks got seven points and seven rebounds.

Tibbs was 12-of-26 from the field as he scored a game-high 26 points to lead the Vikings (2-4).

Coal Grove (3-4) hosts South Point Monday in a make-up game.

Symmes Valley 9 15 18 10 = 52

Coal Grove 22 12 11 19 = 64

SYMMES VALLEY (2-4): Dustin Wilson 1 0 0-0 2, Josh Craft 2 1 0-0 7, Justin Payne 1 0 0-0 2, Kris Tibbs 10 2 0-0 26, Luke Taylor 2 0 1-4 5, Robbie Powell 0 1 0-0 3, Brandon Bowling 0 1 2-2 5, Randy Steele 1 0 0-0 2, Hunter Johnson 0 0 0-0 0, Ryan Stanley 0 0 0-0 0, Michael Ferris 0 0 0-0 0, Jesse Graybeal 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 5 3-6 52. Fouls: 24. Fouled out: Graybeal. Rebounds: 18. Turnovers: 20.

COAL GROVE (3-4): Eric Edens 3 0 6-7 12, Evan Ferguson 1 1 4-6 9, Devin Monnier 2 1 1-4 8, Wayne Sparks 2 0 4-4 8, Dane Haukedahl 5 0 4-6 14, Cody Damron 0 1 0-0 3, Shannon Goodwin 1 2 2-2 10, Rye Goodwin 0 0 0-0 0, Nathan Sullivan 0 0 0-0 0, Jacob Pauley 0 0 0-0 0, Colton Bryant 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 5 21-28 64. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 33 (Sparks 7, Haukedahl 6, Ferguson 6). Assists: 9 (Edens 4). Steals: 5 (Sparks 2). Turnovers: 10.