Chance Short
chance.short@irontontribune.com

CHESAPEAKE — The Chesapeake Lady Panthers clawed at the Coal Grove Lady Hornets, but their attempts would not hit “Holmes.”
In this case, it was Elli Holmes who scored a career-high 15 points as the Lady Hornets beat Chesapeake 64-47 in an Ohio Valley Conference game on Thursday.
“For some reason, teams don’t think all my kids can score,” said Lady Hornets’ coach Rick Roach.
“Early in the game I could tell they were not guarding her and doubling down on Dillow. I pulled her to the side and told her, ‘they don’t think you can score. Prove them wrong.’”
The two teams exchanged baskets in the first quarter as two top guards in the OVC went head to head: Blake Anderson for Chesapeake and Addi Dillow for Coal Grove.
Dillow scored 3 points in the first quarter and Anderson put up 4 points as the teams were tied through the first quarter 10-10. Maddie Ward added 4 points as well for the Panthers.
Chesapeake (9-5, 6-4) went on to hit three triples in the second quarter but Dillow answered with 8 points to steal a lead for the Lady Hornets before the half, 27-21.
Anderson led the Panthers at the break with 9 points and Dillow scored 11.
The story of the second half was junior forward Holmes who scored 9 of her 15 points to ensure a victory for Coal Grove down the stretch.
Dillow continued her solid play as well in the third as the lead ballooned to a 16-point deficit for the Panthers.
The senior guard added 5 more points as she went on to a game high 20 points. Chesapeake would not recover trailing 47-31 heading into the final quarter.
“We adjusted our defense at halftime and applied more pressure in the second half. We talked about how our team is able to win games, not just a single individual,” said Roach.
Anderson and Ward would also finish the game well for the Panthers.
Ward led Chesapeake with 19 points and Anderson tallied 17 points as the duo have played great alongside each other all season.
Abbey Hicks and Kaleigh Murphy combined for 17 points as well for the Lady Hornets who continued to lead the OVC at 11-1. Coal Grove is 15-1 overall.
On Monday, Coal Grove will host Ironton on Monday and Chesapeake travels to Fairland.
Coal Grove 10 17 20 17 = 64
Chesapeake 10 11 10 16 = 47
COAL GROVE (15-1, 11-1): Kelsey Fraley 2 0 2-4 6, Elli Holmes 6 1 0-4 15, Addi Dillow 8 0 4-9 20, Kaleigh Murphy 3 0 3-6 9, AbbeyHicks 1 2 0-0 8, Rylee Harmon 0 0 0-0 0, Kenadee Keaton 0 0 3-5 3, Jaidyn Griffith 1 0 1-2 3. Totals: 24-75 13-30 64. 3-pt goals: 3. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.
CHESAPEAKE (9-5, 6-4): Kandace Pauley 1 0 0-0 2, Jessica Dillon 0 0 0-0 0, Blake Anderson 6 1 2-2 17, Brooklyn McComas 0 1 0-0 3, Maddie Ward 1 2 11-12 19, Emily Duncan 3 0 0-0 6, Ashlee Conley 0 0 0- 0. Totals: 15-53 13-14 47. 3-pt goals: 4. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None.