Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

PORTSMOUTH — It was like having crooked sites on the guns at a carnival shooting gallery.
The Coal Grove Hornets were just 13-of-53 from the field in a 54-36 Ohio Valley Conference loss on Friday to the Portsmouth Trojans.
“I was happy we showed a lot of patience on the offensive end. The 3’s we hit we penetrated and kicked,” said Hornets’ coach Kevin Vanderhoof.
“We just missed a lot of easy shots. We couldn’t get shots to fall. We only had 12 turnovers so we handled their pressure pretty well.”
Daniel Jordan scored 18 points to lead Portsmouth (9-4, 5-3) while Matt Malone had 11 and Kendall Reynolds added 10 points.
Coal Grove (6-9, 2-6) was led by Cory Borders with 13 points including three 3-pointers. Mark Sites added nine points with a pair of triples.
Portsmouth opened the game with a 9-0 run as Jordan scored six points. But Aaron Music, Alijah Roman and Sites all hit 3-pointers as Coal Grove pulled to within 11-9 at the end of the quarter.
Portsmouth led 21-17 at the half and then Jordan scored 10 points in the third quarter as the lead went to 38-20.
Borders hit a 3-pointer to end the quarter and scored five in the fourth quarter as Coal Grove cut the deficit to 11.
But Malone had five points including a 3-pointer while Reynolds was 4-of-4 and D.J. Eley 3-of-4 from the line to preserve the win.
Jordan Case was 4-of-4 and Jeb Jones – who sat out much of the game in foul trouble — went 2-of-2 from the line in the quarter for the Hornets.
The Hornets host Fairland on Tuesday.
Coal Grove    9    8    6    13    =    36
Portsmouth    11    10    18    15    =    54
COAL GROVE (6-9, 2-6): Aaron Music 0 1 0-0 3, Cory Borders 2 3 0-0 13, Jordan Case 0 0 4-4, Mark Sites 1 2 1-4 9, Jaylen McKenzie 0 0 2-2 2, Jeb Jones 0 0 2-2 2, Alijah Roman 0 1 0-0 3. Totals: 3 7 9-12. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: Out.
PORTSMOUTH (9-4, 5-3): D.J. Eley 0 1 5-6 8, Jahmie King 1 0 0-0 2, Daniel Jordan 8 0 2-2 18, Matt Malone 1 3 0-0 11, Kendall Reynolds 2 0 6-6 10, Reese Johnson 2 0 0-0 4, Colin Boehm 1 0 0-0 2, Gabe Gambill 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 4 13-14 54. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None.