The Hornets led 39-23 with four minutes left in the third.

Wednesday, January 26, 2000

The Hornets led 39-23 with four minutes left in the third. With six minutes left to play Raceland had cut the score to 45-44 and were busy missing layups that would have given the Rams the lead.

Ryan Young buried a 3-pointer for the Hornets making it 48-44 and Coal Grove held on for a 55-51 win.

"The thing about these kids is, they don’t play like a team that hasn’t won a game," Humphreys said. "We have played teams tough all year and I told our guys at halftime that they would not win by 14 points, that Raceland would make a run and they did."

Brandon Hicks led the Hornets with 14 points, Young had 13 and Jason Winters added 10. Rob Stamper led the Rams and all scorers with 18 points and Stu Melvin added 12.

"Jason Adams and Dean Mader did a big job for us on defense," Humphreys said. "Beau Webb did a great job off the bench. It tickled me to see him bury the free throws that won it."

A sloppy start saw the two teams combine for more turnovers that points midway through the first quarter. Winters and Hicks hit jumpers and Mader hit a f-footer to give the Hornets a 10-6 lead at the end of the first.

Webb made a layup and a 15-footer opening the second quarter by giving the Hornets a 17-9 lead. Two minutes later and Mader finished off a six-point Hornets run that made it 23-11 with 2:56 left.

Hicks hit a pair of short jumpers and Winters converted a 3-point play giving the Hornets their biggest lead at 32-15 and a 32-18 halftime edge.

Hicks, Mader and Young all hit shots giving the Hornets a 39-23 lead with 4:52 left in the third quarter.

Down 16 points, the Rams began to chip away at the lead even though the Hornets hit more field goals. Raceland caught up at the line and cut the lead to 43-38 at the end of the quarter on four free throws from Melvin.

Jeremy Stephenson stole a pass and made a layup cutting the Hornets lead to 45-44 with 6:04 left in the game. Raceland gained possession and could not buy a basket tossing the ball back and forth with the rim getting in the way now and then.

Jarrad Tolliver’s 5-footer rolled around the rim and out and seconds later Young buried a 3-pointer that gave the Hornets some breathing room at 48-44 with 4:26 left.

"There was a point, in the second half, when Ryan Young took over the game for about a minute and a half and would not let us lose," Humphreys said.

A layup by Young gave the Hornets a 52-44 lead with 3:16 left but again the Rams closed the gap.

A 3-pointer from Stamper cut the score to 53-51 with 15 seconds left setting up Webb’s crucial free throws with 8 seconds left.

Coal Grove will travel to Lucasville Valley Saturday.

RACELAND 6 12 20 13 – 51: Jeremy Stephenson 2 1 0-0 7, Rob Stamper 3 4 0-0 18, Stu Melvin 2 0 8-8 12, Jarrad Tolliver 2 0 3-7 8, Justin Beek 2 0 1-1 4, Tom Compton 0 0 0-0 0, Brandon Maye 0 0 0-0 0, Cory Maye 0 0 0-0 0, Bill Schutzker 1 0 0-0 2. Totals 17-36 (5) 12-16 51. Rebounds: 21 (Tolliver 9). Blocked shots: 1 (Tolliver). Steals: 2 (Stephenson 2). Turnovers: 16. Team fouls: 13. Fouled out: None.

COAL GROVE – 10 22 11 12 – 55: Jason Winters 2 1 3-3 10, J.R. Carey 0 0 0-0 0, Beau Webb 2 0 4-5 8, Tim McClean 0 0 0-0 0, Ryan Young 5 1 0-0 13, Dave Webb 0 0 0-0 0, Brandon Hicks 7 0 0-0 14, Jason Adams 1 0 0-2 2, Dean Mader 2 1 1-2 8. Totals: 22-45 (3) 8-12 55. Rebounds: 26 (Jason Adams 8, Ryan Young 7, Mader 6). Blocked shots: 4 (Ryan Young 2). Steals: 7. Turnovers: 16. Team fouls: 14. Fouled out: None.