Chance Short
chance.short@irontontribune.com

PROCTORVILLE — The Fairland Lady Dragons tipped off their season at home against the Coal Grove Lady Hornets in an Ohio Valley Conference showdown.
The two teams were favorites to win the conference in pre-season conversation, but Fairland was able to take the first game with a 51-44 win.
The Dragons took control early and didn’t look back after taking a 14-11 first quarter lead.
Katie Brumfield helped set the tone for Fairland with 5 first quarter points and her balldeny defense.
The senior guard tallied 13 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals on the night.
Addi Dillow and Abbey Hicks opened the second quarter with a pair of 3s for the Hornets but they would still trail by 6 going into the half.
Turnovers were a problem for Coal Grove in the first half and Fairland took advantage with patient offense.
Fairland also got to introduced freshman Bree Allen who put up 20 points and also grabbed 9 rebounds in her high school debut.
The Lady Dragons used a balance of offense with 3 players in double digit scoring with Tomi Hinkle’s 10 points.
“We are pretty hard to guard because all of our kids are willing to score. Obviously, we are going to have our leading scorers, but the key for us is having multiple contributors,” Fairland coach Jon Buchanan said after his team’s win.
The Hornets did make a push late at the start of the fourth quarter.
Dillow scored 11 points in the final quarter and was able to bring the game to a one possession game, but Fairland would go on to sink back-to-back 3-pointers to ice the game.
The two teams will look forward to the rematch later in the season, but in the meantime Fairland will travel to South Point on Thursday and Coal Grove entertains Gallia Academy.
Coal Grove 11 10 8 15 = 44
Fairland 14 13 9 15 = 51
COAL GROVE (1-1, 0-1): Fraley 1-1 0-0 0-0 2, Holmes 1-6 0-2 1-2 3, Dillow 7-15 3-6 2-2 19, Murphy 2-8 0-0 0-0 4, Hicks4-7 3-5 0-0 11, Harmon 0-3 0-1 0-2 0, Keaton 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Griffith 2-4 0-0 1-1 5. Total: 17-447-15 3-7 44.
FAIRLAND (1-0, 1-0): Emma Marshall 1-6 0-2 1-2 3, Penix 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Brumfield 6-10 2-5 0-2 14, Allen 9-17 2-4 0-0 20,Hinkle 3-6 0-1 4-7 10, Judge 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Howard 1-2 0-0 0-0 2, Orsbon 1-4 0-0 0-0 2. Totals:21-46 4-12 5-11 51.
Rebounds: CG 21 (Murphy 10), F 26 (Allen 8). Steals: CG 6 (Dillow 3, Murphy 3), F 5 (Brumfield2, Allen 2). Blocked shot: CG 2 (Holmes, Harmon), F 1 (Brumfield). Fouls: CG 13, F 8.Turnovers: CG 14, F 12. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.