CHESHIRE — If the game were horsehoes, the Coal Grove Hornets wouldn’t feel so bad right now.

But the Hornets can’t seem to catch a break as they lost another heartbreaker to the River Valley Raiders 63-58 Friday in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both teams.

“Our kids played as well or better than they did on Tuesday in a very difficult place to play. I can’t fault them at all,” Hornets coach Mike Waller said.

The Raiders took a 16-12 lead at the end of the first quarter thanks to 3-pointers by Bryan Morrow, Ryan Eggleton and Ryan Henry. Zach Murphy had 5 points for the Hornets including a trifecta.

Coal Grove cut the deficit to 28-26 at the half as Adam Bare and Tyler Branch combined for 8 points in the second quarter.

Bare and Murphy scored 6 points each in the third quarter but Jason Jones got 6 and Marcus Frazier 5 for the Raiders who went ahead 46-43.

The Hornets were down one point with 1:30 to play when they were whistled for a controversial technical foul. River Valley made the two free throws and score on the inbounds play to open up a 5-point lead and went on to the victory.

Bare had 18 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots for the Hornets. Murphy got 15 points to go with 4 rebounds while Branch added 13 points and 6 rebounds.

The Raiders (3-1, 1-0) got 14 points from Jones and 10 from Frazier.

With yet another tough loss Coal Grove falls to 0-5, but Waller said the players have remained upbeat.

“The kids have kept a good attitude and they want to win,” Waller said.

The Hornets host St. Joseph on Tuesday.

Coal Grove12141715=58

River Valley16121916=63

COAL GROVE (0-5, 0-1): Zach Murphy 6 1 0-0 15, Chris Dirling 0 1 0-0 3, Eric Davidson 0 1 0-0 3, Tyler Branch 6 0 1-1 13, Adam Bare 7 0 4-6 18, Simon Hall 0 0 0-0 0, Zach Sloan 0 0 0-0 0, Austin Willis 1 0 2-2 4. Totals: 22-49

7-9

58. Fouls: 25. Fouled out: Dirling, Goodwin. 3-point goals: 3-11. Rebounds: 26 (Bare 12, Branch 6, Murphy 4). Assists: 9 (Bare 4, Goodwin 2). Steals: 3 (Bare 2, Branch 1). Blocked shots: 4 (Bare 2). Turnovers: 18.

RIVER VALLEY (3-1, 1-0): Jason Jones 3 0 8-10 14, Bryan Morrow 1 1 2-2 7, Michael Cordell 2 0 3-4 7, Ryan Henry 1 1 3-6 8, Tyler Thompson 2 0 1-3 5, Sean Sands 0 1 0-0 3, Ryan Eggleton 0 1 0-0 3, Marcus Frazier 3 1 1-5 10, Ian Lewis 2 0 0-1 4, Zach Deel 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 15

5

18-31

63. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.