COAL GROVE — Together we can.

That seemed to be the motto for the Coal Grove Hornets as they used a collective effort to beat the Sciotoville East Tartans 55-46 Friday in a non-league game.

Three players scored in double figures and nine players scored overall as the Hornets improved to 4-3.

But the defense proved to be a key factor by forcing 29 turnovers that included 18 steals, five by Eric Edens and four by Reece Rymer.

The Hornets also held a 25-21 rebound advantage with 15 coming on the offensive glass compared to just six for East.

“Our teamwork was the best we’ve had all year,” said Hornets coach Randy Ward. “We had a team effort. All our guys hit the boards well. We got a little tired, but we got our second wind and started getting (rebounds) again.”

Getting tired was a problem for the Hornets in the second half as they let the lead slip to just six points on three different occasions.

“We need to stay more focused. You lose your intensity when you get tired,” said Ward.

A 3-poiner by Chris Dirling and a steal and layup by Wayne Sparks helped the Hornets jump in front 7-2.

East, which managed just three field goal attempts in each of the first and second quarters, stayed close on foul shooting.

But Dirling hit a 3-pointer, Rymer a foul shot, and Dirling a baseline jumper with 1:12 on the clock and it was 16-7. Tyler Mault’s steal and layup just before the buzzer made it 16-9.

East (4-2) had nine more turnovers in the second quarter and was 0-for-3 from the field. Coal Grove led 24-10 when Cody Damron converted both ends of a one-and-one with 2:47 left in the half.

The Tartans cut the spread to 24-15 on two foul shots by Mault, but Austin Willis hit a 3-pointer with one second left and the Hornets were up 27-15 at the break.

Coal Grove had only seven turnovers in the first half but nine in the third quarter. Fortunately the defense created seven more East miscues.

“We got in foul trouble and we had only two starters on the floor when we started to turn it over,” said Ward.

East was down 34-27 on a 3-point play by Brian Collins with 2:52 left in the third quarter. Devin Monnier got a put-back basket and Edens hit a foul shot as the lead was 37-27 heading into the fourth quarter.

After shooting jut 6-of-17 from the field the first three quarters, East was 8-of-10 in the fourth quarter to get within six points twice.

But the Hornets got what was probably the key basket when Dane Haukedahl followed up a missed shot to make it 48-38 with less than three minutes to play.

Coal Grove used three foul shots by Edens and one by Sparks over the final 1:22 to seal the win.

Willis had 14 points and Sparks and Dirling 10 each for the Hornets. Haukedahl had seven rebounds and Brandon Chinn five.

Mault scored 17 and Chase Dickerson 11 to lead East.

Sciotoville East961219=46

Coal Grove16111018=55

SCIOTOVILLE EAST (4-2): Jordan Garrett 0 0 0-0 0, Chase Mault 0 0 1-2 1, Tyler Mault 6 1 2-2 17, Chase Dickerson 2 1 4-4 11, Brad Collins 2 0 3-5 7, Josh Bailey 0 0 2-2 2, Tyler Messer 0 00-0 0, Nathan Hood 0 0 1-2 1, Brian Collins 2 0 3-7 7. Totals: 14-27 16-24 46. 3-point goals: 2-5. Fouls: 21. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 6-15=21 (Dickerson 4, Bailey 4, Brad Colllins 4). Team rebounds: 3. Assists: 3 (T. Mault 2). Steals: 6 (T. Mault 4). Turnovers: 29.

COAL GROVE (4-3): Eric Edens 1 0 4-7 6, Wayne Sparks 1 2 2-4 10, Brandon Chinn 0 0 1-2 1, Dane Haukedahl 2 0 1-2 5, Chris Dirling 2 2 0-3 10, Austin Willis 4 2 0-0 14, Reece Rymer 1 0 3-4 5, Devin Monnier 1 0 0-0 2, David Bridges 0 0 0-0 0, Cody Damron 0 0 2-3 2, Dion Cunningham 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-47 13-25 55. 3-point goals: 6-17. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 15-10=25 (Haukedahl 7, Chinn 5). Team rebounds: 6. Assists: 4 (Edens 3). Steals: 18 (Edens 5, Rymer 4, Willis 3). Turnovers: 19.