Hornets erase 17-point deficit, use 4th quarter rally to beat Flyers

COAL GROVE — Trailing by 15 at the half and 17 early in the third quarter, the Coal Grove Hornets showed plenty of resiliency and grit with a second half rally to beat the Saint Joseph Flyers 53-51 on Friday night.

For Coal Grove coach Kevin Vanderhoof, he was elated to not only see his team be able to bounce back after a tough league loss the night before, but also battle back from a huge deficit to get a needed win.

"We battled back and cut the lead in half, then it was 43-all and we lose Waginger on a trail and he nails a three to put them ahead after we'd done all that work to get back in it. But it was a great sign that it didn't phase our kids when that happened."

The Hornets were led by Ayden Hankins, who finished with 15 points, 7 rebounds, and a blocked shot. Braydon Klaiber and Caden Turner added 11 points apiece. Turner pulled down 7 rebounds and a blocked shot, while Klaiber had 5 boards. Bronson Guy put in 10 points and had a pair of assists.

Guy said afterwards the message at halftime was to just play harder and step up on the defensive end.

"Coach told us we got to play harder and lock down on defense. We weren't scoring great and just turned the ball over."

The Hornets responded in the second half, out-rebounding the Flyers 14 to 8, all the while cutting down their turnovers to just 7 and forced Saint Joseph into 11 turnovers.

The Flyers seemed to be well in control following Beckett Waginger's jumper to the begin the second half, pushing them out to their biggest lead of the game at 31-14.

From that point on, the scoring chances began to become scarce for Saint Joseph and the Hornets began chipping away at the lead.

During the first half, Coal Grove's offense sputtered at times, but began to show some signs of life in the third, finding success in the post with Hankins netting 8 and Klaiber adding 6, as the Hornets outscored the Flyers 22-14 in the frame.

"I had some foul trouble. But they told me to play strong down low and I was able to score some buckets," said Hankins.

Then in the final minute of the quarter, Guy scored twice down low and Klaiber connected from behind the arc to cut the deficit to just 43-36 going into the fourth.

"Third quarters have been our downfall the last three games. I think we're losing a lack of focus," said Saint Joseph Tait Matney. "But the biggest thing they did was compete. We didn't do that at South Gallia."

The Hornets appeared to have completed the comeback when Turner went to the foul line after pulling in a rebound off a missed free throw by Hankins. Turner sank both to tie the game at 43-all with 6:40 left to play.

However the had other ideas, as Barrett Waginger bombed in a 3-pointer from the corner off a dish from Dressel. Then Waginger came up with a steal at midcourt and laid in the basket to put the Flyers back ahead 48-43.

But again, the Hornets showed resolve and fought back to tie the game on back-to-back scores by Turner and a free throw by Hankins.

The Flyers answered again with yet another 3-pointer from Barrett Waginger to lead 51-48 with 2:53 left in regulation.

Hankins answered on the other end with a 3-point play off an drive down the left side of the lane.

On the other end, the Flyers missed an opportunity to take the lead on a shot inside, but Turner came up with a rebound to set up the Hornets final possession.

As the seconds ticked off, Guy was fouled up top and went to the foul line with 8 seconds remaining. The junior sank both to give the Hornets a 2-point lead.

Saint Joseph had one last chance to either tie or win in regulation, but a long 3-point shot from Waginger hit the front of the rim at the buzzer and Coal Grove secured the victory.

"At halftime, it was coach Bare challenged them a little, because there was nothing I could draw on a whiteboard that playing harder couldn't solve. Sometimes that's all it takes," said Vanderhoof.

The Flyers built their lead up with a 14-2 run in the second quarter. During the scoring spree, Saint Joseph got a pair of baskets and a trey from Zane Dressel and 6 points in the paint from Carter Johnson.

Coal Grove finally halted the run with baskets from Klaiber and Guy. However, Barrett Waginger hit a pull up jumper in the closing seconds to give the Flyers a 29-14 lead at the break.

The Flyers were led on the stat sheet by Barrett Waginger with 19 points, 3 steals, 3 rebounds, and a pair of assists. Dressel finished the night with 10 points, 5 boards and 3 assists. Johnson and Beckham Waginger chipped in 8 points apiece, with Johnson pulling down 4 rebounds and Waginger had 3 boards.

"We got a big one Tuesday against Notre Dame. They're a similar team like Coal Grove. So we'll go back and look at the film and give our kids the best chance to win on Tuesday," said Matney.

St. Joseph 10   19   14     8  =  51

Coal Grove 8     6   22   17  =  53

ST. JOSEPH (1-3): Gus Listerman 0 0 0-0 0, Mason Weber 0 0 0-0 0, Eli Whaley 0 1 0-0 3, Barrett Waginger 4 3 2-2 19, Beckham Waginger 3 0 2-2 8, Jon Sharp 0 0 0-0 0, Zane Dressel 3 1 1-2 10, Carson Willis 1 0 1-1 3, Carter Johnson 3 0 2-4 8. Totals: 15 4 8-11 51. Rebounds: 23 (Dressel 5, Johnson 4, E. Whaley 4, Be. Waginger 3, Ba. Waginger 3). Assists: 8 (Dressel 3, E. Whaley 2, Ba. Waginger 2). Steals: 5 (Ba. Waginger 3). Turnovers: 16. Fouls: 24. Fouled out: Willis, Johnson, Be. Waginger.

COAL GROVE (2-2): Bronson Guy 3 0 4-5 10, Rylan Smith 2 0 2-3 6, Braydon Klaiber 2 1 4-5 11, James Dome 0 0 0-0 0, Caden Turner 4 0 3-3 11, Ayden Hankins 5 0 5-9 15. Totals: 16 1 18-25 53. Rebounds: 27 (Hankins 7, Turner 7, Klaiber 5, Dome 3). Assists: 6 (Smith 3, Guy 2). Steals: 5 (Smith 2). Turnovers: 14. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None.