The Coal Grove Hornets can do more these days.

The Hornets have been honing their skills over the first eight games of the season, and it was evident Monday as Coal Grove beat the South Point Pointers 64-57 in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

“We hit some big shots and with our ballhandling we can milk the clock. We couldn’t do that early in the year. We’re improving,” said Hornets coach Randy Ward.

The Pointers had not played since Dec.23, but coach Gary Norris said it wasn’t a factor.

“They beat us to the ball,” said Norris.

“We went for a stretch in the first quarter where we didn’t run our offense. Then we got behind 10-11-12 points and we had to battle back. We exuded too much energy trying to get back in the game and didn’t haven anything left.”

South Point (4-2, 1-1) led 6-2 early but hit a lull as Coal Grove came back to take a 10-6 lead at the end of the quarter.

A 3-pointer by Cody Damron put the Hornets up 17-11, but Chase Kratzenberg and Kyle Winkler scored four points each to get the Pointers within 24-22 at the half.

The lead changed hands four times in the third quarter. Damron’s two foul shots put Coal Grove up for good at 33-32, Evan Ferguson had a layup and two foul shots and Dane Haukedahl’s putback gave the Hornets a 39-34 lead at the end of the quarter.

Ethan Prater’s layup with six minutes left had the Pointers down 44-36, but then came a key turn of events.

Haukedahl was fouled trying to score inside. The play upset the Pointers who argued and were called for two technical fouls.

Haukedahl made both shots, Shannon Goodwin hit one of two, and Damron converted two more and the lead was 49-36.

Eric Edens hit both ends of a one-and-one and Ferguson hit a free throw to give the Hornets their biggest lead at 52-38 with 4:12 left.

Winkler’s trifecta with 2:25 left got South Point within 53-47, but the Pointers were forced to foul and the Hornets connected on 10-of-10 from the line including four by Ferguson to seal the win.

“Early in the year we were missing free throws. We were overanxious and we didn’t stay with the fundamentals,” said Ward. “We’ve corrected that.”

Sparks had 13 points and six rebounds to lead the Hornets (4-4, 1-1). Ferguson scored 12 and Edens added 10 points and two assists.

Kratzenberg had a game-high 24 points including four 3-pointers. Prater scored 14 with five rebounds and Winkler finished with 13 points off the bench.

South Point 6 16 12 23 = 57

Coal Grove 10 14 15 25 = 64

SOUTH POINT (4-2, 1-1): Chase Kratzenberg 4 4 4-4 24, Jordan Fletcher 1 0 0-0 2, Drew Lynd 1 0 0-0 2, Ethan Prater 4 0 6-11 14, Greg Taylor 0 0 0-0 0, Matt Button 1 0 0-0 2, Cody Taylor 0 0 0-0 0, Kyle Winkler 4 1 2-2 13, Will Hill 0 0 0-0 0, Kevin Davis 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-51 12-17 57. Fouls: 23. Fouled out: Lynd (4th 5:50), Button (4th 1:23). 3-point goals: 5-12. Rebounds: 14-7=21 (Fletcher 5, Prater 5). Assists: 9 (Lynd 3, Prater 2). Steals: 4. Turnovers: 10.

COAL GROVE (4-4, 1-1): Eric Edens 3 0 4-4 10, Evan Ferguson 2 0 8-10 12, Devin Monnier 1 1 3-4 8, Wayne Sparks 4 0 5-5 13, Dane Haukedahl 1 0 2-2 4, Cody Damron 1 1 3-4 8, Shannon Goodwin 1 2 1-3 9. Totals: 17-34 26-32 64. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: Haukedahl (4th 3:49). 3-point goals: 4-9. Rebounds: 10-19=29 (Sparks 6, Monnier 5, Damron 5). Assists: 7 (Sparks 2, Edens 2). Steals: 2. Turnovers: 17.