The "D" is defense and they are the Rock Hill Redmen who used a strong defensive effort Tuesday to beat the Coal Grove Hornets 55-38 in the first Ohio Valley Conference game on the season for both teams.

Wednesday, January 05, 2000

The "D" is defense and they are the Rock Hill Redmen who used a strong defensive effort Tuesday to beat the Coal Grove Hornets 55-38 in the first Ohio Valley Conference game on the season for both teams.

Rock Hill, 5-3, limited Coal Grove to 12-of-49 shooting for 24.5 percent for the game. The Redmen also held the Hornets to just four field goals the second half.

"It’s a big rivalry and they came out fired up. I felt we came out a little flat, but after that we picked it up and really got after it the second quarter," Redmen coach Rick Scarberry said.

"The second half we gave up 12 or 13 points at the foul line. They had 21 at the half and 38 for the game, so they only had a couple of field goals the second half. Our defense has been solid all year."

Billy Mullins scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Redmen including 14 the first half. Brent McCoy had 14 points while Brian Tennant grabbed 12 rebounds.

"We got a super, super game out of Billy Mullins, Brent McCoy gave a solid effort, and Brian Tennant didn’t score a lot of points but played his tail off diving on the floor and rebounding. David Large played great defense. We had a lot of kids step it up. But we’ve got a big one Friday," Scarberry said.

Rock Hill plays at South Point Friday in another big league game.

Coal Grove, 0-7 and 0-1, was led by Dean Mader with 11 points and three assists.

Mullins scored 11 points the first quarter, but Mader scored 5 points and Jason Winters and Jason Adams 4 points each and the game was tied 16-16.

Ryan Townsend and Mullins had 3 points each the second quarter and the defense held Coal Grove to 5 points as Rock Hill took a 27-21 halftime lead.

McCoy and Mullins had 6 points each the third quarter as Rock Hill opened up a 43-30 lead.

In the reserve game, Rock Hill won 42-36 as George Mullins scored 12 points and Ryan Music 9. Caleb Potter had 10 points while Eric Tackett and Jacob Ball scored 7 each for Coal Grove.

COAL GROVE – 16 5 9 8 – 38: Jason Winters 3 0 3-4 9, Beau Webb 0 0 1-2 1, Ryan Young 2 0 1-2 5, David Webb 0 0 0-0 0, Joe Sark 2 0 1-1 5, Brandon Hicks 1 0 2-6 5, Dean Mader 2 1 4-6 11, Tim McClean 0 0 0-0 0, Josh Collins 0 0 0-1 0, David Webb 0 0 0-0 0, J. R. Carey 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12-49 (1) 13-26 38. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: Mader. Rebounds: 25 (Young 5). Assists: 6 (Mader 3, Young 3). Turnovers: 22.

ROCK HILL – 16 11 16 12 – 55: Brent McCoy 1 2 6-8 14, David Large 2 0 1-2 5, Ryan Townsend 1 0 1-2 3, Billy Mullins 10 0 2-3 22, Brian Tennant 2 0 0-0 4, Brent Clagg 1 0 0-1 2, Nate Lambert 0 0 0-0 0, Tanner Heaberlin 1 0 0-0 2, David Schug 0 1 0-0 3. Totals: 21-52 (3) 10-16 55. Fouls: 23. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 36 (Tennant 12). Assists: 13 (Large 5). Turnovers: 22.

Wheelersburg 67, Portsmouth 59

WHEELERSBURG – The Wheelersburg Pirates turned it on early and late, and in the process turned off the Portsmouth Trojans.

Wheelersburg got off to an early 10-2 lead, then had to regain the lead in the fourth quarter in a 67-59 win over Portsmouth Tuesday.

"We played pretty well and we didn’t turn the ball over too bad," Pirates coach Tom Barrick said. "But Portsmouth shot the ball pretty well."

Andrew Burleson had 25 points to lead the Pirates, now 5-1. Jason Schmidt scored 14 and Mike Yelley added 11.

Jonah Booker had 14 points and Jason Green 10 to pace Portsmouth, now 5-3.

Wheelersburg went up 10-2 to start the game and Burleson had 9 points the first quarter for a 17-12 lead.

Burleson had 6 more points the second quarter but Portsmouth got within 30-26 at the half.

Portsmouth drew to within 46-45 after three quarters and took a 50-47 lead with 6:30 to play.

But Wheelersburg came back when sophomore Paul Miller’s 3-pointer tied the game with 6:10 to play. The Pirates scored on their next three possessions to take the lead for good.

Wheelersburg was 14-of-21 from the line the fourth quarter.

The Pirates, 5-1, hosts Waverly Friday in a Southern Ohio Conference game, then visits Greenup County Saturday.

PORTSMOUTH – 12 14 19 14 – 59: Jason Fleming 2 2 0-0 10, Jeremy Greene 1 0 0-0 2, Derek Thompson 0 0 1-4 1, Lenny Brown 1 1 0-0 5, Jeremy Hamrick 0 1 0-0 3, Jerry Jordan 1 1 1-2 6, Jonah Booker 0 4 2-2 14, Dan Washington 0 0 2-3 2, Craig McKinley 2 0 0-2 4, R. J. Cameron 2 0 0-4 4. Totals: 10 10 9-19 59. Fouls: 24. Fouled out: None.

WHEELERSBURG – 17 13 16 21 – 67: Jason Schmidt 4 0 6-9 14, Andy Gill 2 1 0-0 7, Paul Miller 0 1 1-2 4, Jeff Given 2 0 1-2 5, Brian Yelley 0 0 1-4 1, Andrew Burleson 5 1 12-18 25, Mike Yelley 4 0 3-4 11. Totals: 17 3 24-39 67. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: None.