Lady Hornets get big games from Shore, Anson to hold back late rally from Lady Panthers

COAL GROVE — A mix of defense, turnovers and double digit scorers by the Coal Grove Lady Hornets proved to be the right mix needed to pick up a 41-33 Ohio Valley Conference win over the Chesapeake Lady Panthers on Friday.

"I thought defensively we played really well all night. We wanted to play man-to-man because we knew they had some kids that could shoot - like right there at the end," said Coal Grove coach Nick Miller.

The Lady Hornets were able to build their lead up in the first half but controlling the boards and generating 15 turnovers.

Even though Coal Grove knew they had a height advantage going into the game, Miller recognized that his team needed to control the glass and take away second chance points.

"They a smaller team this year and sometimes they play offensively with a lot of people around the perimeter, so it's hard to rebound. But I watched their game against South Webster and they were just pounded the boards and we told our kids they got to rebound."

Karli Shore finished with 15 points, 4 steals and 3 rebounds. Jenna Anson had a double-double, scoring 12 points and pulling in a game-high 15 boards. Emma Lively made a huge contribution inside with 13 rebounds.

For Chesapeake, Abbey Issacs led all scorers with 21-points, including a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line, and a team-high 7 rebounds.

Coal Grove (5-1, 3-1 OVC) gained the upper hand in the opening quarter with Rebekah Dome scoring 4 points, Anson adding 3 points, and Lively scored on a put back.

In the second quarter, the Lady Hornets stretched their lead out with an 8-0 run. Anson hit a trio of free throws during the scoring run. Palin Hunter got rebound off a missed foul shot from Anson and laid the ball in the net. Then Shore finished off with a pair of scores, including a jumper off a pump fake and a steal for a layup.

The Lady Panthers got a three ball from KJ Collins in the finals seconds to stop the run, but trailed 20-10 at the break.

"I really thought the first half kind of determined the game," said Chesapeake coach Chris Ball. "We turned the page, but it just wasn't enough. We kinda dug ourselves a hole and got in some foul trouble."

During the third frame, Chesapeake's offense came to life starting with a 3-pointer from Ciera Nichols, then Issacs went coast-to-coast for a layup to cut the Coal Grove lead down to 20-15 at the 3:17 mark.

But Shore converted a 3-point play on the other end to push the lead back out to eight.

"(Shore) has a lot of upside. She's 5-11, in track she can high-jump 5-2, 5-3. But she's just not come out of her shell yet," said Miller. "I think tonight was one of those games she finally did."

The teams traded scores to close out the quarter with Coal Grove still leading 27-20 going into the final frame.

The Lady Hornets started to pull away to behind the fourth when Anson scored on another put back and Shore scored on a layup.

But Chesapeake got it down to a one-score game after consecutive triples from Issacs with 5:26 remaining.

Anson and Lively each answered with baskets to expand the Coal Grove lead back out to 35-28.

Then Issacs scored underneath and Nichols buried a triple from the corner to cut the deficit to 35-33 with just over 2 minuets to play.

But the Lady Hornets used a 6-0 scoring spurt to close the game out and seal the win, getting 2 buckets from Anson and Kendall Taylor sank two free throws to finish things out.

South Point 4     6   10   15  =  33

Coal Grove 9   11   7    9  =  41

CHESAPEAKE (4-2, 2-2): KJ Collins 0 1 0-0 3, Hollie Moore 0 0 0-0 0, Sara Dillion 0 0 0-0 0, Abbey Issacs 2 3 8-8 21, Ava Layne 0 2-2 2, Chloe Parrott 0 0 1-4 1, Abby Mitchell 0 0 0-0 0, Ciera Nichols 0 2 0-0 6. Rebounds: (O-8, D-22) 30 (Issacs 7, Layne 5, Parrott 5). Assists: 4 (Layne 2). Steals: 13 (Nichols 3, Moore 3, Layne 2). Totals: 2 6 11-14 33. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.

COAL GROVE (5-1, 3-1): Palin Hunter 1 0 0-0 2, Hailie McKnight 0 0 0-0 0, Kendall Taylor 1 0 2-2 4, Karli Shore 7 0 1-3 15, Emma Lively 1 0 0-0 2, Izzy Kitts 0 0 0-0 0, Jenna Anson 4 0 4-8 12, Rebekah Dome 2 0 2-2 6. Rebounds: (O-20, D-26) 44 (Anson 15, Lively 13). Assists: 4 (Lively 2). Steals: 17 (Hunter 5, Shore 4). Totals: 16 0 9-15 41. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None.