Ericka Leighty and Allison Mitchell found themselves a new hangout: the lane on a basketball court.

Leighty and Mitchell combined for 38 points and 22 rebounds as South Point dominated the boards and beat the Coal Grove Lady Hornets 69-57 on Thursday to win the Ohio Valley Conference title outright.

South Point out-rebounded Coal Grove 41-21 with 17 coming on the offensive end. Doing most of the damage on the boards were Mitchell with a career-high 14 rebounds — seven on offense — and Leighty who had eight with five on offense.

Leighty also scored a season-high 24 points including 10-of-12 from the foul line.

“I think (rebounding) was a big key. Coming into the game we were worried about them getting second shots but we didn’t allow that to happen,” said Lady Pointers’ coach Dave Adams.

“Coal Grove has a good group of seniors who have had a lot of success. Leighty is our only senior and she stepped up in a tough environment and gave us a big lift.”

Mitchell also scored 14 points and Tinesha Taylor scored most of her 14 points around the basket as South Point finished the regular season 18-2 and 10-0 in the OVC.

Coal Grove coach Nick Miller agreed that South Point’s rebounding advantage was the difference.

“We got out-athleted around the basket. They were just quicker than us and they out-jumped us,” said Miller. “But I’m proud of our girls and their effort. They didn’t quit.”

Jordyn Cox, who scored 27 points in her final home game for Coal Grove, had 10 points in the first quarter as the Lady Hornets took a 16-12 lead.

Taylor gave South Point its first lead since 1-0 as she hit from the baseline to make it 18-16 with 5:47 left in the half.

Three straight baskets inside by Chelsea Delong rallied to give Coal Grove its final lead of the game at 25-23 with 1:55 on the clock. Taylor hit another shot from the baseline a minute later to tie the game at the half, 25-25.

“Ashley Goodall did a nice job off the bench in the second quarter when Kayla (Fletcher) got in foul trouble and had to sit out most of the quarter,” said Adams. “The main thing we wanted to do was hang in there and give ourselves a chance at the end.”

A layup by Taylor at the three-minute mark gave South Point a 41-31 lead and it was 49-38 at the end of the quarter.

Cox hit two of her five treys in the fourth quarter and Delong had a triple with 1:43 left that cut the deficit to 60-55.

But Fletcher hit two free throws and Leighty was 4-of-4 as the Lady Pointers sealed the win.

South Point was 21-of-26 from the line for the game and 7-of-8 in the fourth quarter when the Lady Hornets were forced to foul.

“They did a nice job of hitting three throws,” said Miller.

Delong finished with 19 points and Danielle Carpenter had six rebounds for Coal Grove (16-4, 8-2).

South Point 12 13 24 20 = 69

Coal Grove 16 9 13 19 = 57

SOUTH POINT (18-2, 10-0): Allison Mitchell 5-10 4-4 14, Kayla Fletcher 1-2 3-4 6, Ericka Leighty 7-10 10-12 24, Jalynn Bradburn 3-14 0-0 7, Tinesha Taylor 6-11 2-4 14, Ashley Goodall 1-3 2-2 4, Angelica Stewart 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-50 21-26 69. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 2-10 (Fletcher 1-2, Goodall 0-1, Taylor 0-1, Bradburn 1-6). Rebounds: 17-24=41 (Mitchell 14, Leighty 8). Team/deadball rebounds: 6. Assists: 10 (Bradburn 4). Steals: 9 (Mitchell 3, Leighty 2, Fletcher 2). Turnovers: 19.

COAL GROVE (16-4, 8-2): Abby Nance 2-3 0-5 4, Danielle Carpenter 0-1 0-0 0, Jordyn Cox 9-23 4-5 27, Taylor Sexton 2-8 3-5 7, Chelsea Delong 9-16 0-0 19, Kelli McMackin 0-0 0-0 0, Keesha Wyatt 0-1 0-0 0, Kim Hanshaw 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-52 7-15 57. Fouls: 26. Fouled out: Nance (4th 0:19). 3-point goals: 6-22 (Sexton 0-2, Delong 1-6, Cox 5-14). Rebounds: 10-11=21 (Carpenter 6, Delong 5, Nance 4). Team/deadball rebounds: 3. Assists: 9 (Sexton 3, Carpenter 2). Steals: 7 (Cox 5). Turnovers: 16.