By JIM WALKER

Tribune Sports Editor

SOUTH POINT — It’s all about control.

The team who controlled the tempo held the upper hand, and the South Point Lady Pointers controlled the tempo for three quarters resulting in a 67-44 win over the Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers Saturday.

Ironton had the game at the pace it liked in the first quarter and led at one time by 10 points. But the Lady Pointers got the game going up-and-down with their press and turned the tempo in their favor.

“The first quarter they had the game at their pace. We wanted to get the pace going but you have to make shots to do that,” said South Point coach Dave Adams.

“Once we got it going, it kind of feeds on itself.”

Kayla Fletcher was the catalyst for South Point with 21 points, three assists and four steals. Erin Dillow had six steals as the Lady Pointers had 19 swipes.

Allison Mitchell scored 18 points while Jalynn Bradburn added 12.

“Kayla makes things happen and Allison just really battles,” said Adams.

Ironton (8-4) was led by Nikki Elswick with 13 points and 16 rebounds. Alex Taylor had 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Ironton was guilty of 27 turnovers, 21 coming in the final three quarters.

“We just didn’t handle the pressure. It’s that simple,” said Ironton coach Doug Graham. “We started out doing what we wanted, but once the momentum shifted we could never get it back under control and that is to their credit.”

Trailing 9-6, Elswick hit a trifecta to tie the game and her putback with 6:16 left in the half completed a 13-0 run that put Ironton ahead 19-9.

But Mitchell hit a short baseline shot as the Lady Pointers (8-2) ran off 16 unanswered points to lead 26-19 after a 3-pointer by Fletcher.

Taylor followed up a missed shot at the 1:30 mark to end the run and make it 26-21, but Kimmie Bennett’s basket and two foul shots by Mitchell put South Point up 30-21 at the break.

Ironton closed the gap to 45-33 with 1:54 left in the third quarter on layups by Torie Klaiber and Alicia Murphy and Ariel Schweickart’s trey, but that was as close as the Lady Tigers would get the rest of the game.

South Point hit 8 of 12 shots from the field in the fourth quarter to end any Ironton comeback hopes. After shooting 4 of 16 the first quarter, the Lady Pointers were 22 of 45 the rest of the game including 7 of 18 from behind the arc.

Ironton 13 8 14 9 = 44

South Point 9 21 20 17 = 67

IRONTON (8-4): Alex Taylor 4 1 1-1 12, Nikki Elswick 5 1 0-0 13, Ariel Schweickart 1 1 -4 8, Karlee McMackin 0 0 0-0 0, Alicia Murphy 3 0 1-2 7, Emily Davis 0 0 2-2 2, Torie Klaiber 1 0 0-0 2, Kaitlyn Adkins 0 0 0-0 0, Taitlyn Dutey 0 0 0-0 0, Saige Fields 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-42 7-9 44. Fouls: 9. 3-point goals: 3-9. Rebounds: 10 offense, 22 defense = 32 (Elswick 16, Taylor 9). Team/deadball rebounds: 2. Assists: 7 (Taylor 4). Steals: 6 (Schweickart 3, Taylor 3). Turnovers: 27.

SOUTH POINT (8-2): Allison Mitchell 7 0 4-4 18, Kayla Fletcher 4 4 1-1 21, Kimmie Bennett 1 0 0-0 2, Jalynn Bradburn 3 1 3-4 12, Erin Dillow 2 1 0-0 7, Angelica Stewart 1 1 0-0 5, Aundrea Bradburn 1 0 0-0 2, Eryn Khounlavong 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-61 8-9 67. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 7-18. Rebounds: 11 offense, 13 defense = 24 (Bennett 5, Mitchell 4). Team/deadball rebounds: 6. Assists: 8 (Fletcher 3). Steals: 19 (Dillow 6, Fletcher 4, Mitchell 4). Turnovers: 9.