Chance Short
chance.short@irontontribune.com

PROCTORVILLE — The top two teams in the Ohio Valley Conference on the girls’ side faced off in the district semifinals on Wednesday night in the OHSAA Division III tournament.
The No. 5 seeded Coal Grove Lady Hornets topped the No.4 seeded Fairland Dragons in a come from behind win at the Carl York Center, 54-47.
“Every possession is going to make a difference in this game,” said Lady Hornets coach Rick Roach repeatedly. “I’m excited for our girls and it’s been a long time since we’ve made it this far. (Addi) Dillow took over and we had some other girls step up down the stretch.”
Addi Dillow led the game in scoring with 30 points. The senior guard left her mark in this game in the second half as she almost outscored the Dragons herself with 16 of her team’s 30 points in the third and fourth quarters.
The Lady Dragons took control of the game early as their first three field goals were from deep, and Bree Allen scored 6 points to lead Fairland to a 14-13 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
Fairland continued the strong start with another big quarter in the second. Tomi Hinkle drilled a pair of 3-pointers and finished a tough transition layup at the end of the quarter to extend their lead at the break, 30-24.
The Lady Hornets answered the bell out of the locker room and started the third quarter on a 6-0 run to tie the game and force a Fairland timeout. The Lady Dragons were limited to just six points in the third.
Kaleigh Murphy scored 4 points for Coal Grove and helped cut the lead to just two points heading into the game’s final quarter, 36-34.
Jaidyn Griffith scored a layup plus the foul as the game was tied to take a three-point lead after finishing the free throw for Coal Grove. It was their first lead since the first quarter, and they wouldn’t let it slip away. The Lady Hornets shot 8-for-9 from the charity stripe to close out the game and solidify the win.
Murphy finished with a double-double for Coal Grove as she scored 10 points while grabbing 12 rebounds.
Hinkle finished as the Dragon’s leading scorer with 15 points and Allen tallied 11 and 11 rebounds.
“If i had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing,” said Fairland coach Jon Buchanan. “I would have changed making shots.”
Coal Grove will now play topo-seeded Wheelersburg at 2 p.m. Saturday in the district finals at Ironton High School. Wheelersburg rallied from 17 points down to beat New Lexington 47-42.
Coal Grove 13 11 10 20 = 54
Fairland 14 16 6 11 = 47
COAL GROVE (22-2): Elli Holmes 2 0 0-0 4, Addi Dillow 11 1 5-7 30, Kaleigh Murphy 2 1 3-6 10, Abbey Hicks 0 1 0-0 3, Jaidyn Griffith 3 0 1-1 7. Totals: 18 3 9-14 54. Rebounds: 30 (Murphy 12). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: none.
FAIRLAND (18-4): Emma Marshall 0 4 0-0 12, Kylee Bruce 1 0 2-2 4, Bree Allen 2 1 4-6 11, Tomi Hinkle 3 3 0-0 15, Miaa Howard 2 0 1-2 5. Totals: 8 8 7-10 47. Rebounds: 36 (Allen 11). Turnovers: 15. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Miaa Howard.