By JIM WALKER

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

McDERMOTT — Little by little.

The Minford Lady Falcons managed to get away from the Coal Grove Lady Hornets little by little as they posted a 55-40 win in the Division 3 sectional finals on Saturday.

Minford (18-5) struggled with the Lady Hornets who got a 22-point scoring performance from senior Alivia Noel in her final game.

“Minford was the biggest team we have faced all year. They had a 6-3 center and several 5-10 to 6-foot players. We battled them throughout the game inside,” said Lady Hornets’ coach Nick Miller.

Lexi Conkel hit a pair of 3-pointers and Lindsee Williams scored 6 points as Minford took a 12-9 first quarter lead.

Noel hit a 3-pointer and scored 5 points with Kendall Taylor scoring the other 4 points.

Six different players scored for Minford in the second quarter as the lead went to 27-21. Lainey Howard and Williams scored 4 each and Kynedi Davis hit a 3-pointer.

Emma Lively drained a pair of 3-pointers for the Lady Hornets, Kinsy Keeney also hit a 3-pointer and Noel added 3 points.

Minford stretched the lead to 43-34 in the third quarter as Maggie Risner and Baylee Hammonds scored 4 points each and Lexi Conkel drilled a 3-pointer.

Noel drained three 3-pointers and scored 11 of the Lady Hornets 13 points in the quarter.

Minford was able to open up a little more breathing room in the fourth quarter by outscoring Coal Grove 12-6.

Williams was 4-of-4 at the foul line and scored 6 points to lead 4 different players in the scoring column in the fourth quarter for Minford.

Noel hit her fifth 3-pointer and Taylor had a basket for Coal Grove.

“Noel and Keeney were great senior leaders for us this season,” said Miller. “We finished with 10 wins and we had eight freshmen out of 12 on the roster, so I feel the girls had a respectful seasons.”

Williams scored 16 points and Conkel 11 to pace Minford.

Coal Grove    9 12 13 6 = 40

Minford   12 15 16 12 = 55

COAL GROVE (10-14): Shay Collins 0 0 0-0 0, Kendall Taylor 2 0 3-4 7, Kinsy Keeney 0 1 1-2 4, Kalli Vanderhoof 0 0 0-0 0, Kasey Vanderhoof 0 0 0-0 0, Alivia Noel 2 5 3-3 22, Emma Lively 0 2 0-0 6, Isabelle Kitts 0 0 0-0 0, Jenna Anson 0 0 1-4 1, Klara Klaiber 0 0 0-0 0, Abbie Deeds 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 4 8 8-13 40. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None.

MINFORD (18-5): Lexi Pendleton 0 0 1-2 1, Maggie Risner 3 0 1-2 7, Ava Cronin 0 0 0-0 0, Baylee Hammonds 2 0 0-0 4, Emma Carter 0 0 0-0 0, Kynedi Davis 0 1 0-0 3, Lexi Conkel 1 3 0-0 11, Lindsee Williams 6 0 4-6 16, Marlee Pendleton 2 0 1-4 7, Marley Rhodes 0 0 0-0 0, Lainey Howard 3 0 0-0 6, Riley Kasee 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 4 7-14 55. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None.