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BIDWELL, Ohio — In a game full of runs, Coal Grove made the run that mattered most.

The Lady Hornets turned an early deficit into a permanent lead with a 10-0 surge to start the second quarter, allowing the guests to ultimately hold on and secure a 61-53 victory over the River Valley girls basketball team Thursday night in an Ohio Valley Conference matchup in Gallia County.

The Lady Raiders (3-12, 1-5 OVC) fell behind 9-4 midway through the opening canto, but the hosts rallied with a 6-0 spurt over the final 3:09 to secure a 10-9 edge after eight minutes of play. Trailing 9-6, Cady Gilmore drilled a three-pointer to knot things up with 2:42 left, then sank a free throw at the 1:14 mark to give RVHS its only lead of the night.

CGHS (10-6, 3-3 OVC) — which made only 3-of-18 field goal attempts in the opening stanza — sank its first five shots of the second quarter, allowing the guests to turn a one-point deficit into their biggest lead of the first half at 19-10. Darian Hankins gave the guests a continual lead with a basket just seven seconds into the canto, which started the pivotal 10-0 run.

Leia Moore snapped a 3:41 scoreless drought for the hosts with a basket at the 5:32 mark, which sparked a 13-5 charge that pulled the Lady Raiders to within 24-23 with 2:18 remaining in the half. Coal Grove, however, responded with a 5-0 run over the final two minutes to claim a 29-23 lead at the intermission.

River Valley connected on 8-of-24 field goal attempts and had eight turnovers at the break, while the Lady Hornets committed six miscues and hit 12-of-35 floor shots over that same span.

The Lady Raiders pulled to within four points at the 7:35 of the third canto when Chelsea Copley hit a field goal for a 29-25 contest, but the guests answered with 6-0 spurt to take its first-of-three 10-point leads in the canto with 3:57 left in the period.

CGHS led 39-29 with 2:59 remaining, but the hosts closed the third period with a 12-5 run to pull to within 46-41 headed into the finale.

Jacy Jones drilled a three-pointer and sank a free throw 10 seconds into the fourth, as that rare four-point play sparked a 10-3 run that ended with a Jones’ field goal — giving the guests their biggest lead of the night at 56-44 with 5:47 left in regulation.

River Valley twice pulled to within five points with 2:45 (56-51) and 47 seconds (58-53) remaining, but ultimately ran out of time in its comeback effort. CGHS added the final three points of the contest to wrap up the eight-point triumph.

With the victory, the Lady Hornets claimed a season sweep of River Valley after also posting a 65-42 win at CGHS back on December 6.

The Lady Raiders connected on 19-of-51 field goal attempts overall for 37 percent, including a 5-of-16 effort from three-point range for 31 percent. The hosts had 15 turnovers and went 10-of-19 at the charity stripe for 53 percent.

Cady Gilmore led RVHS with 17 points, followed by Leia Moore with 14 points and Chelsea Copley with eight markers. Shelby Brown was next with six points, while Courtney Smith and Rachael Smith rounded out the scoring with four markers apiece.

Courtney Smith added a team-high seven rebounds in the setback, followed by Moore with six caroms. Gilmore also had a team-high five steals.

CGHS sank 22-of-61 shot attempts for 36 percent, including a 4-of-14 effort from behind the arc for 29 percent. The guests were also 13-of-19 at the charity stripe for 68 percent.

Jacy Jones paced Coal Grove with a game-high 19 points, followed by Ashley Adkins with 15 markers. Katey Erwin and Taylor Fleming both contributed 10 points each for the Lady Hornets, who had 13 turnovers in the contest.