Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

NELSONVILLE — It has been a hard but smooth ride for the road warriors.
Playing — and winning — their fourth straight road game, the Coal Grove Lady Hornets edged the Nelsonville-York Lady Buckeyes 50-48 on Saturday.
“At the beginning of the season, the girls questioned our schedule. I told them I did it on purpose because I wanted to see what they were made of,” said Lady Hornets’ coach Rick Roach.
Addi Dillow made a short baseline jumper with 31 seconds to play that tied the game at 48.
N-Y missed a shot against a Coal Grove double team and Kaleigh Murphy got the rebound. She made an outlet pass to Lauren Crum who fired a pass down the court to Dillow for a layup with 3.1 seconds left as the Lady Hornets went up 50-48.
Dillow finished with 21 points and three assists for Coal Grove (7-2). Baylee McKnight had 10 points, Murphy eight rebounds and three assists.
Nelsonville-York (5-5) was led by Mackenzie Hurd with 19 points. Jascelyn Heller scored 13, Mary-Kate McCulloch 11 and Haley Hurd pulled down 14 rebounds.
The Lady Buckeyes led 18-15 at the end of the first quarter as Heller and McCullloch scored seven points each. Dillow and McKnight combined for 11 points in the quarter.
Coal Grove rallied to take a 31-27 halftime lead behind six points by Dillow and each team scored nine points in the third quarter.
N-Y led 46-45 with 1:32 left to play when Crum hit a foul shot to tie the game with 1:28 left. Mackenzie Hurd hit a 10-foot bank shot to give N-Y the 48-46 lead and set up the thrilling finish.
“I was a little discouraged a few minutes into the game when we got down 16-6, but I got a timeout and reassured the girls that they were better than they were playing,” said Roach.
“(Destiny) Dolen did another great job defensively and rebounding. She has great awareness of where the ball will come off the rim. McKnight had a couple of nice 3-point baskets at crucial times in the game. Hopefully, we can take what we have learned over these last four games and head back into league play with some confidence.”
Coal Grove hosts Chesapeake on Thursday.
Coal Grove 15 16 9 10 = 50
Nelsonville 18 9 9 12 = 48
COAL GROVE (7-2): Addi Dillow 10 0 1-5 21, Baylee McKnight 1 2 2-2 10, Kaleigh Murphy 3 0 1-3 7, Destiny Dolen 1 0 1-3 3, Lauren Crum 2 0 1-2 5, Abbey Hicks 1 0 0-0 2, Jaiden Griffith 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 21-48 6-15 50. 3-pt goals: 2-10. Rebounds: 27 (Murphy 8). Assists: 9 (Murphy 3, Dillow 3). Blocks: 2. Turnovers: 13. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None.
NELSONVILLE-YORK (5-5): Joscelyn Heller 2 2 3-4 13, Mary-Kate McCulloch 3 1 2-2 11, Mackenzie Hurd 8 0 2-4 18, Haley Hurd 2 0 0-2 4, Ashleigh Cantrell 0 0 0-0 0, Tessa Kaaz 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-47 7-12 48. 3-pt goals: 3-8. Rebounds: 29 (H. Hurd 14). Assists: 3 (McCulloch 2). Blocks: 2. Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.