SOUTH POINT — It was a much-needed rest. Now the real work begins.

The South Point Pointers made light work of the River Valley Raiders with a 77-36 romp Tuesday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

The Pointers won’t be able to enjoy the win very long. They’ll have to prepare for two tough road games at Huntington (W.Va.) St. Joseph on Tuesday, Jan. 5, and Chesapeake on Friday, Jan. 8, in an OVC showdown for first place.

None of the starters played in the fourth quarter.

“We got out to a big lead and then we were able to rest our starters in the fourth quarter. We’ve got to get ready because we have a big run of games in a row,” said Pointers’ coach Chris Barnes.

Blake Barnes led the Pointers’ offense with 24 points. The inside trio of Cody Taylor, Greg Taylor and Ethan Prater combined for 33 points. Cody Taylor had 13, Greg Taylor 12 and Prater 10.

“Those three big guys did another great job on the boards,” said coach Barnes.

Cody Smith scored 16 — 13 in the first half — and Cody McAvena 10 for River Valley.

Blake Barnes had 9 points in the first quarter as South Point jumped out to an 18-10 lead.

Prater led a balanced offense in the second quarter with 6 points as South Point built a comfortable 41-16 halftime cushion.

Barnes had 8 more points in the third quarter as the Pointers extended the lead to 60-25.

River Valley 10 6 9 11 = 36

South Point 18 23 19 17 = 77

RIVER VALLEY (1-5, 1-1): Trey Noble 2 0 0-2 4, Cody McAvena 0 3 1-2 10, Aaron Harrison 0 1 1-6 4, Dominque Peck 1 0 0-0 2, Cody Smith 2 3 3-6 16, Keith Skidmore 0 0 0-0 0, Parker Hollingsworth 0 0 0-0 0, Kyle Bryant 0 0 0-0 0, Austin Lewis 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 5 7 5-16 36. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None.

SOUTH POINT (3-3, 2-0): Tevin Mitchell 0 0 0-0 0, Austin Jeffreys 0 0 0-0 0, Matt Button 0 0 0-0 0, Blake Barnes 9 1 3-4 24, Jordan Bruton 1 1 0-0 7, Josh Powers 0 1 0-0 3, Casey Schmidt 0 0 0-0 0, Tre Campbell 1 0 0-0 2, Zane Huron 0 0 0-0 0, Chris Christian 3 0 1-2 7, Ethan Prater 4 0 2-2 10, Cody Taylor 6 0 1-2 13, Greg Taylor 5 0 1-2 11. Totals: 30 3 8-12 77. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None.