CROWN CITY — The Rock Hill Redmen offense might have been off, but the defense was always “on.”

While the Redmen struggled offensively most of the game from in the paint, the defense shut down the South Gallia offense as the Redmen rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Rebels 41-40 Friday.

Rock Hill was 16 of 39 from the field for 41 percent, but the missed shots were from close range.

“Defensively we played well. We missed too many shots in the paint,” said Redmen coach Bob Wilds.

Trey Wilds got Rock Hill off to a good start offensively as he drained three shots from behind the arc as the Redmen took a 15-11 first quarter lead.

Sam Cooke and Will McCollister combined for 7 of Rock Hill’s 9 points in the second quarter and the lead was 24-19 at the break.

But South Gallia outscored the Redmen 15-7 in the third quarter to take a 34-31 lead. Cooke had 5 of Rock Hill’s points in the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the defense held South Gallia to just 6 points while Jeremy Blagg and Cooke had 4 points each to spark the comeback.

“We came out in the third quarter and couldn’t hit anything. But we hung in there and pulled one out at the end,” said coach Wilds.

Cooke had 13 points and 9 rebounds to lead Rock Hill (2-1). Trey Wilks finished with 11 points and Blagg had 10 points, 7 assists and 4 steals.

Brandon Harrison scored 13 points and Brice Clary 10 for South Gallia (1-2).

Rock Hill visits Chesapeake Tuesday.

Rock Hill 15 9 7 10 = 41

South Gallia 11 8 15 6 = 40

ROCK HILL (2-1): Jeremy Blagg 3 0 4-5 10, Will McCollister 1 0 1-2 3, Devin Darby 1 0 0-2 2, Shane Russell 0 0 0-0 0, Trey Wilds 1 3 0-0 11, Mitch Patterson 1 0 0-0 2, Andy Knipp 0 0 0-0 0, Sam Cooke 6 0 1-3 13. Totals: 13 3 6-12 41. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 15-16=31 (Cooke 9). Assists: 13 (Blagg 7). Turnovers: 11. Steals: 5 (Blagg 4). Blocked shots: 3 (McCollister 2, Cooke).

SOUTH GALLIA (1-2): Matt Hall 1 1 0-0 5, Brandon Harrison 4 1 2-2 13, Levi Ellis 0 1 0-0 3, Bryce Clary 5 0 0-0 10, A.J. McDaniel 1 0 1-2 3, Dan Matney 1 0 0-0 2, Dalton Matney 2 0 0-0 4. Totals: 14 3 3-4 40. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None.