Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

JACKSON — In the song “I’m Henry The 8th” by Herman’s Hermits, Peter Noone sings the line, “Second verse, same as the first.”
Back on Jan. 4, the Alexander Lady Spartans beat the Coal Grove Lady Hornets 65-55. The two met again on Saturday in the Division 3 sectional finals with little change in the outcome as Alexander won 58-45.
“Different day, different location, same results as the first time,” said Lady Hornets’ coach Rick Roach. “No matter how much we talked about how we fouled too much in the first game with Alexander, we did the exact same thing this time.”
Alexander (14-7) converted 18-of-26 free throw attempts while the Lady Hornets were just 9-of-14.
“Alexander capitalized at the line while we tried to get a basket to fall,” said Roach whose team shot just 34.7 percent from the field. Alexander was 19-of-49 for 40.7 percent from the floor.
Marlee Grinstead had 6 points and Taylor Meadows 4 in the first quarter as Alexander took an 18-10 lead. Addi Dillow had 4 points for Coal Grove.
The Lady Hornets rallied in the second quarter to get within 25-24 at the half as Dillow hit a 3-pointer and scored 9 points and Caitlin Dillon added a 3-pointer.
The 3-pointer by Dillow enabled her to reach a milestone as she scored her 1,000th career point. She came into the game needing just 7 points to reach the coveted total.
The Lady Spartans were held to just 6 points in the second quarter.
But Alexander converted 7-of-7 free throws in the third quarter and Grinstead scored 9 points as she made all five of her free throw attempts and the Lady Spartans outscored Coal Grove 18-6 to take a 43-30 lead.
“Alexander plays excellent defense. We knew that every possession would make a huge difference in the outcome of the game. We got down in the first but fought back in the second,” said Roach. “We came out flat in the third and continued to make careless turnovers and fouls.”
Both teams scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to keep the margin of difference unchanged.
Erin Scurlock scored 7 points and Kara Meeks 5 points in the fourth quarter as both teams scored 15 points.
Dillow scored 7 points, Kaleigh Murphy went 3-of-3 from the line and scored 5 more points for the Lady Hornets.
Dillow finished the game with 20 points while Murphy added 9 points.
The Lady Hornets finished the season 17-7 and won a second straight Ohio Valley Conference championship.
“Going 17-7 is not bad with a team of only two seniors and two juniors,” said Roach. “We played a tough non-league schedule during the season. Six of our losses came from teams that won sectional championship this year.”
Grinstead scored 19 points, Meeks had 15 and Scurlock 10 for Alexander.
Alexander 18 7 18 15 = 58
Coal Grove 10 14 6 15 = 45
ALEXANDER (14-7): Jadyn Mace 1 1 1-4 6, Emma Brooks 0 0 0-0 0, Hope Richardson 0 0 1-3 1, Taylor Meadows 2 1 0-0 7, Erin Scurlock 4 0 2-3 10, Kara Meeks 5 0 5-7 15, Marlee Grinstead 5 0 9-9 19. Totals: 19-47 18-26 58. 3-pt goals: 2. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: Grinstead.
COAL GROVE (17-7): Kelsey Fraley 0 0 0-0 0, Ellie Holmes 0 0 0-0 0, Addi Dillow 7 1 3-5 20, Kaleigh Murphy 3 3-4 9, Abbey Hicks 2 0 3-4 7, Rylee Harmon 2 0 0-0 4, Kenadee Keaton 0 0 0-1 0, Jaidyn Griffith 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 17-49 9-14 45. 3-pt goals: 2. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: Holmes.