By Tim Gearhart

The 2022 Ohio Valley Conference girls basketball championship was settled Monday night.

With a 74-40 victory over the Coal Grove Lady Hornets, the Fairland Lady Dragons will claim the trophy outright.

Had Coal Grove prevailed, the teams would have shared the championship as they did two of the past three years. Coal Grove held it outright in 2020, but shared honors with Fairland in 2019 and 2021.

The victory gives Fairland an 18-2 season record. They are 13-0 in the OVC with only one league game remaining in the regular season. They face Ironton on Thursday at the Conley Center. They will host Spring Valley on Feb. 9 in a non-league game.

The loss leaves Coal Grove with a 14-5 overall record, 10-2 in the league. They have two league games remaining — Rock Hill today and Portsmouth on Thursday. They have a non-league game scheduled with Wayne on Saturday.

Fairland showed the Lady Hornets little mercy and opened a 19-4 first quarter lead. After exchanging baskets at the opening tip the Lady Dragons went on a 17-2 run. Bree Allen had a pair of 3s in the opener. Tomi Hinkle burned one too, as did Kamryn Barnitz. Kylee Bruce had a pair of 2s. Hinkle also had 2 points from the foul line and Allen one.

Coal Grove went 2 for 13 from the field in the first quarter. Elli Holmes and Abbey Hicks each had one to account for the team’s 4 points.

Fairland continued the blitz in the second quarter, netting 21 more points while Coal Grove added 8, with the result being a 40-12 halftime margin.

Hinkle, who ended the night with a game high 31 points, poured in 12 points in the second quarter, including another 3. She added 9 in the third and 5 in the fourth. Allen added another 3 and a 2 before the half, then finished the game with 5 in the third and 5 more in the fourth. Kamryn Barnitz had a pair of 2s in the second and one in the third.

Coal Grove connected on only 4 of 18 shots in the second quarter. Murphy was 3 of 5 for 6 points in the quarter.

The Lady Hornets improved in the second half but were still out-gunned by Fairland. Scoring was 20-17 in the third quarter and 14-11 in the final period.

In the final tally, Fairland’s Hinkle and Allen combined for 53 points: Hinkle with 31 and Allen 22. Hinkle also grabbed 10 rebound. Allen had 11 rebounds. Bruce had 8 points, 8 rebounds and 7 blocks.

Murphy was Coal Grove’s only double-digit scorer with 12.

Fairland        19    21    20    14    =    74

Coal Grove     4      8    17    11    =    40

Fairland: Reece Barnitz 1 0 2-2 4, Bree Allen 3 4 4-8 22, Tomi Hinkle 7 3 8-9 31, Kamryn Barnitz 3 1 0-0 9, Kylee Bruce 4 0 0-0 8. Totals: 18 8 14-19 74. Fouls: 13. Fouled Out: Kylee Bruce.

Coal Grove: Kelsey Fraley 1 0 3-6 5, Elli Holmes 2 1 0-0 7, Alivia Noel 0 0 0-1 0, Kaleigh Murphy 6 0 0-0 12, Abbey Hicks 3 02-2 8, Rylee Harmon 0 1 3-3 6, Kenadee Keaton 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 10 2 8-12 40. Fouls: 11. Fouled Out: None.