Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

PROCTORVILLE — It might not have been good, but it was good enough.

The Fairland Dragons may not have had their best game, but they found a way to beat the Coal Grove Hornets 60-50 on Tuesday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

“Overall, we didn’t play well but we won and that’s the key,” said Fairland coach Nathan Speed. “But Coal Grove had something to do with how we played. They’re a good team.”

The Dragons (3-0, 1-0) got a good performance from Chance Short as the senior guard scored 20 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and had 3 assists and 3 steals.

Kollin Van Horn added 12 points and 13 rebounds and Nathan Campbell finished with 9 points and 7 rebounds.

Coal Grove (1-3, 0-3) had four players in double figures. Brandon Adkins and Travis Carey scored 12 each while Sean Paulus and Joe Akers got 10 each.

Isaiah Gunther, Paulus, Akers and Adkins had 5 rebounds apiece. Gunther also had 4 assists.

Speed said a key to the win was the defensive job by Tyler Campbell and Darius Stapleton against the Hornets’ 6-foot-8 center Austen Pleasants.

“Tyler and Darius played real well against Pleasants. We were worried about his size. We had to limit him inside,” said Speed.

Fairland took an 11-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and it was 26-18 at the half.

Adkins scored 9 points and Akers 6 in the third quarter as Coal Grove cut the deficit to 46-42. Short scored 9 points and Van Horn 8 more to keep the Dragons in front.

Short got 7 more points in the fourth quarter as he went 4 of 6 at the line and Nathan Campbell was 3 of 4.

Coal Grove 8 10 24 8 = 50

Fairland 11 15 20 14 = 60

COAL GROVE (1-3, 0-3): Sean Paulus 2 2 0-1 10, Isaiah Gunther 1 0 0-0 2, Brandon Adkins 3 2 0-0 12, Joe Akers 5 0 0-0 10, Austen Pleasants 0 0 0-0 0, Travis Carey 3 2 0-0 12, Jonathan Joseph 2 0 0-0 4, Isaac Fields 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-58 0-1 50. 3-point goals: 6-25. Rebounds: 25 (Adkins 5, Gunther 5, Akers 5, Paulus 5). Assists: 9 (Gunther 4). Steals: 1. Turnovers: 7. Fouls: 16 Fouled out: None.

FAIRLAND (3-0, 1-0): Chance Short 4 1 9-13 20, Gunner Short 0 1 2-2 5, Isaiah Howell 2 1 0-0 7, Nathan Campbell 1 1 4-5 9, Ty Staten 0 0 1-2 1, Luke Thomas 1 0 0-0 2, Darius Stapleton 2 0 0-0 4, Hayden James 0 0 0-0 0, Tyler Campbell 0 0 0-0 0, Kollin Van Horn 5 0 2-2 12. Totals: 19-52 18-24 60. 3-point goals: 4-21. Rebounds: 41 (Van Horn 13, C. Short 10, N. Campbell 7). Assists: 11 (C. Short 3). Steals: 5 (C. Short 3). Turnovers: 10. Blocked shots: 3 (Van Horn 3). Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.