JACKSON — When it comes to winning, looks don’t count.

The Coal Grove Hornets didn’t look good Monday night, but that didn’t matter as they got past the Nelsonville-York Buckeyes 47-45 in the Division III sectional semifinals.

“It was ugly, but we still move on and that’s what tournament play is all about,” said Hornets’ coach Randy Ward. “We didn’t play well, but we got a win.”

With the win the Hornets (13-8) will play Alexander at 8:30 p.m. on Friday in the sectional finals.

One player who did look good for Coal Grove was Wayne Sparks who had a game-high 26 points including the final basket that lifted the Hornets to the win.

“Sparks really stepped up and played big. He wanted the ball and they had no answer for him,” said Ward.

Sparks scored six points in the first quarter as Coal Grove took a 12-8 lead. He came back to scored nine in the second quarter and it was 26-22 at the half.

Coal Grove led 32-22 with 6:35 in the third quarter after back-to-back treys by Sparks and the lead was 36-33 at the end of the quarter,

However, Nelsonville-York went on a 23-9 run starting in the third quarter to take a 45-41 lead with 2:22 left in the fourth quarter.

Evan Ferguson hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 2:02 left to cut the deficit to one. After an exchange of turnovers, Sparks hit a layup with 36 seconds left to put the Hornets up.

A 3-point attempt by the Buckeyes’ Michael Barrick rattled out as Sparks grabbed the rebound and was fouled.

Sparks made one of two free throws with 1.3 seconds left and N-Y’s desperation shot fell short as the horn sounded.

Besides Sparks, Ferguson and Devin Monnier had eight points each for the Hornets. Cody Damron grabbed nine rebounds and Monnier six while Eric Edens had five assists and three steals.

Mychal Mitchell had 14 points for the Buckeyes (8-13).

Nelsonville-York 8 14 11 12 = 45

Coal Grove 12 14 10 11 = 47

NELSONVILLE-YORK (8-13): Mychal Mitchell 5 0 4-4 14, Josh Dickerson 1 0 3-4 5, Terrance Fox 0 0 1-2 1, Daniel Kline 0 0 0-0 0, Tyler Gooden 3 0 2-2 8, Michael Barrick 1 1 0-0 5, Derek Arnold 1 0 0-0 2, Connor Bunting 4 0 0-0 8, Jared Dexter 1 0 0-0 0 2, Kyle Moore 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 17-34 10-12 45. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Mitchell. 3-point goals: 1-7. Rebounds: 16 (Gooden 4, Barrick 4). Assists: 3 (Mitchell 3). Steals: 6 (Gooden 2, Dickerson 2). Turnovers: 15.

COAL GROVE (13-8): Eric Edens 1 0 1-2 3, Evan Ferguson 2 1 1-2 8, Devin Monnier 4 0 0-2 8, Wayne Sparks 8 2 4-8 26, Dane Haukedahl 0 0 2-2 2, Cody Damron 0 0 0-2 0, Shannon Goodwin 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-37 8-18 47. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 3-12. Rebounds: 27 (Damron 9, Monnier 6, Sparks 5). Assists: 12 (Edens 5, Ferguson 3). Steals: 8 (Edens 3, Sparks 2, Gooden 2). Turnovers: 17.