Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

COAL GROVE — Alexis Hall made her return to Coal Grove felt.
Hall scored all 19 of her points in the first half as she shot 9-of-10 from the field to lead the Lady Hornets to a 73-29 rout of the River Valley Lady Raiders on Thursday in the season opener.
Destiny Dolen had 12 points and Emily Compliment added 11 points.
“We applied pressure early. With the ballhandlers that we have we were able to cut down our turnovers to just under 10. (Kasey) Murphy led us in rebounding which is something we know we need to do this year,” said Lady Hornets’ coach Rick Roach.
“We have everyone back and healthy and we were able to rotate through some players and get a lot of kids some playing time. We played good team ball and shared the ball well. We outsized them and were able to get nearly 30 points out of our bigs.”
Hall scored 17 points — all from the field — including a 3-pointer as Coal Grove raced to a 26-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Coal Grove used its pressure to force turnovers as Hall finished with eight steals and eight assists while Compliment had seven steals.
Beth Gillman hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter for the Lady Raiders.
The Lady Hornets continued to pour it on in the second quarter by outscoring River Valley 20-6 and led 46-19 at the half.
Addie Dillow came off the bench to score six points and Destiny Dolen also had six points in the quarter as six different players scored for the Lady Hornets.
Compliment had six points and Bailey McKnight scored four as Coal Grove extended its lead to 62-23 at the end of the third quarter.
Coal Grove hosts Lucasville Valley on Saturday with the reserve game starting at 1 p.m.
River Valley    13    6    4    6    =    29
Coal Grove    26    20    16    11    =    73
RIVER VALLEY (0-2): Cierra Robert 0 0 0-0 0, Hannah Jacks 0 0 0-0 0, Jaden Neal 2 0 2-2 6, Savannah Reese 3 2-2 8, Kelsey Brown 2 0 2-2 6, Jordan Garrison 0 0 0-0 0, Kaylee Tucker 0 0 0-0 0, Beth Gillman 0 3 0-0 9, Carly Gilmore 0 0 0-0 0, Kaylee Gillman 0 0 0-2 0. Totals: 10-40 6-8 29. 3-point goals: B. Gillman 3. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.
COAL GROVE (1-0): Addie Dillow 3 0 0-0 6, Halie Frazier 0 0 1-2 1, Bailey McKnight 2 1 2-4 9, Emily Compliment 4 0 3-5 11, Makayla Daniels 0 0 0-0 0, Kasey Murphy 3 0 2-4 8, Alexis Hall 8 1 0-0 19, Destiny Dolen 5 0 2-4 12, Leah Crum 3 0 1-4 7, Jaidyn Griffith 0 0 0-0 0, Emileigh Bryant 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 30-64 11-23 73. 3-point goals: 2 (Hall, McKnight). Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None.