Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

COAL GROVE — The showdown for first place was so good, they had to play a little longer.
Addi Dillow had 24 points including 5 in overtime as the Coal Grove Lady Hornets nipped the Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers 52-51 in a game for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference on Monday.
Coal Grove is now 6-1 overall and 5-0 in the OVC. Ironton is 5-1 and 4-1.
“We knew what to expect: a tight, aggressive, hard-fought game. That’s what we got,” said Lady Hornets’ coach Rick Roach.
“LaFon is one of the best post players in the area and she showed why tonight. At times, we had two kids tgrhing to box her out and she still ended up with the ball.”
Abbey Hicks added 11 points and Rylee Harmon 8 for Coal Grove.
Nothing was falling from the outside for the Lady Tigers as they made just 18-of-58 shots from the field for a mere 31 percent.
Center Samantha LaFon led Ironton with 23 points as she made 10-of-15 attempts from the field. Lexie Arden had only 8 points as she was 2-of-20 from the floor.
Dillow scored 8 points and Hicks hit a 3-pointer in the first quarter as Coal Grove took a slim 13-12 lead.
LaFon scored 10 points in the second quarter including a 3-pointer and Elli Williams also hit a trey as Ironton rallied to take a 25-20 lead at the break.
Hicks hit another pair of 3-pointers and scored 8 points in the third quarter as Coal Grove cut the deficit to 36-32.
“Hicks came up big and knocked down some shots when we got down. (Jaiden) Griffith and Harmon battled with LaFon all evening,” said Roach.
LaFon scored 7 points in the third quarter.
Coal Grove outscored Ironton 15-11 in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 47-47 to force the overtime. Dillow had 11 points and the Lady Hornets were 5-of-8 at the line.
Arden and Evan Williams scored 4 points each in the quarter.
Dillow scored all of Coal Grove’s point in overtime including two technical foul shots.
“Dillow has not been finishing the last two games. Tonight, I thought she did a better job of understanding when she needed to get to the basket,” said Roach.
Arden and LaFon had 2 points each for Ironton.
On Thursday, Ironton host Portsmouth and Coal Grove entertains South Point.
Ironton 8 17 11 11 4 = 51
Coal Grove 13 7 12 15 5 = 52
IRONTON (5-1, 4-1): Riley Schreck 1 0 0-1 2, Samantha LaFon 9 1 2-5 23, Lydia Hannan 3 0 0-0 6, Elli Williams 1 1 1-2 6, Kameren Arden 0 0 0-0 0, Evan Williams 2 0 2-2 6, Lexie Arden 2 0 4-4 8. Totals: 18 1 7-14 51. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None.
COAL GROVE (6-1, 5-0): Ellie Holmes 1 0 3-7 5, Addi Dillow 8 1 5-5 24, Caitlin Dillon 0 0 0-0 0, Kaleigh Murphy 2 0 0-2 4, Abbey Hicks 1 3 0-0 11, Rylee Harmon 3 0 2-4 8, Jaidyn Griffith 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 4 10-18 52. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: Harmon.