Chance Short
chance.short@irontontribune.com

COAL GROVE — Bachman Turner Overdrive sang it. The Coal Grove Lady Hornets lived it.
BTO sang the golden oldie “Taking Care of Business” and that’s what the Lady Hornets did on Sunday as they rolled to a 64-30 win over the Wellston Lady Golden Rockets in the Division 3 sectional tournament.
“Hicks did a good job knocking down some shots off a few sets. Murphy showed her all around skills again getting stats in rebounding, points, steals and assists. Dillow was Dillow and we hit our shots. Even Jaidyn Griffith knocked down a 3-pointer,” said Lady Hornets’ coach Rick Roach.
Coal Grove bolted out of the gate to a 22-7 first quarter lead behind Dillow’s 9 points in the first quarter. Elli Holmes scored 6 points as well for the Lady Hornets.
Their run continued in the second quarter, only Abbey Hicks and Kaleigh Murphy did most of the damage with 5 points apiece as the Lady Hornets raced to another 22 point quarter.
Wellston’s struggles continued as they were limited to just 14 points in the first half. Daycee Clemons and Jenna Johnston led the Lady Golden Rockets with 4 points each at the break as they trailed 44-14.
“The running clock is good and bad. If you have a running clock, you’re playing pretty well. But with a running clock in the second half, it was difficult to try and get any consistency going,” said Roach.
Despite the lack of consistency with a running clock, Coal Grove continued to grow their lead.
Murphy scored 5 more points and Dillow knocked down a 3-pointer on her way to 7 more points. The senior guard finished with a game high 22 points in three quarters.
Murphy added 14 points, Hicks totaled 11 points, and Holmes finished with 10 to put the Lady Hornets at four players in double figures.
Johnson finished with a team high 14 points for Wellston as the only player to reach double figures for her team.
Coal Grove was ahead 62-21 heading into the fourth and decided it was time to rest up for the sectional championship.
Roach emptied his bench for the entire fourth quarter as the Lady Hornets coasted to the win.
The Lady Hornets (20-2) will host Federal Hocking at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the sectional finals.
(Jimmy Walker contributed to this article)
Wellston 7 6 7 10 = 30
Coal Grove 22 22 18 2 = 64
WELLSTON (3-12): Emma Henry 0 1 0-0 3, Gracie Simpson 0 0 0-0 0, Makenna Kilgour 0 0 0-0 0, Macie Lambert 0 0 0-0 0, Kimmi Aubrey 0 0 0-0 0, Daycee Clemons 0 1 1-1 4, Sarah Martin 0 0 2-3 2, Jayla Sawyer 0 0 0-0 0, Taylar Spencer 0 0 0-0 0, Maddie Potts 1 0 0-0 2, Jenna Johnston 4 2 0-0 14, Lauren Cheatham 1 0 3-6 5. Totals: 10-42 6-10 30. 3-pt goals: 4. Fouls: 8. Fouled out: None.
COAL GROVE (20-2): Kelsey Fraley 0 0 0-0 0, Elli Holmes 4 0 2-4 10, Addi Dillow 8 1 3-4 22, Kinsey Keeney 0 0 0-0 0, Laura Hamm 1 0 0-0 2, Katie Deeds 0 0 0-0 0, Alivia Noel 0 0 0-2 0, Autum Hicks 0 0 0-0 0, Kaleigh Murphy 6 0 2-3 14, Olivia Kingrey 0 0 0-0 0, Abbey Hicks 0 3 2-2 11, Rylee Harmon 1 0 0-0 2, Kenadee Keaton 0 0 0-0 0, Carley Robinson 0 0 0-0 0, Jaidyn Griffith 0 1 0-0 3. Totals: 25-68 9-15 64. 3-pt goals: 5. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.