COAL GROVE — Any which way you can.

It didn’t matter how the Coal Grove Lady Hornets won a share of the Ohio Valley Conference championship, all that mattered was that they won it.

Coal Grove earned a share of the OVC championship Thursday by beating the Chesapeake Lady Panthers 50-29. Coal Grove finished tied with South Point who lost to Fairland.

“Our girls deserve the title as much as South Point. We beat South Point once and they beat us once, and we beat Fairland once and they beat us once,” coach Nick Miller said.

“We certainly appreciate what Fairland did for us. They might feel cheated because they beat the co-champions once.”

The championship was the first for the Lady Hornets since 1997. South Point won the title last season.

Chelsea Markins, playing her first game since suffering a sprained ankle in the loss at Fairland, and Samantha Hall scored 14 points each for Coal Grove (16-4, 8-2 OVC).

Sarah Rucker scored 27 of Chesapeake’s 29 points. Rachel Harris had a basket in the third quarter for the only other Panther points.

“We knew coming in Rucker was going to score, but we just didn’t want to let someone else get a lot of points and beat us,” Miller said.

Miller said the title was a fitting tribute to seniors Maggie Young and Tracy Tackett. After winning just two games as freshmen, the duo has been part of 49 careers wins.

“Our seniors played really well. Maggie Young had one of her best games she’s had all year,” Miller said. “I’m happy for our seniors.”

Hall had eight points in the first quarter as Coal Grove took a 13-7 lead. Markins came back with seven in the second quarter as the Lady Hornets extended their lead to 27-15.

“We had two kids in double figures and five others who scored, so we had pretty good balance,” Miller said.

Coal Grove plays Portsmouth at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Lucasville Valley in the Division III sectional tournament.

Chesapeake7868=29

Coal Grove1314158=50

CHESAPEAKE (5-15, 2-8): Rachel Harris 1 0 0-0 2, Holly Black 0 0 0-1 0, Paige Nelson 0 0 0-0 0, Susan Jaime 0 0 0-0 0, Tasha England 0 0 0-0 0, Sarah Rucker 12 0 3-3 27. Totals: 13

0

3-4

29. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None.

COAL GROVE (16-4, 8-2): Samantha Zornes 0 0 0-0 0, Brittany Harrison 1 0 0-2 2, Jordyn Cox 2 0 0-0 4, Taylor Sexton 1 0 1-2 3, Tracy Tackett 2 0 1-1 5, Maggie Young 4 0 0-1 8, Chelsea Markins 1 3 3-7 14, Samanatha Hall 7 0 0-0 14. Totals: 18

3

5-13

50. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.

RESERVES: Coal Grove 43, Chesapeake 3. Coal Grove (15-5) scoring: Caymie Collier 17, Abby

Nance 6, Danielle Carpenter 6, Megan Little 6.