Roger Zornes hopes no one is getting spoiled.

The Ironton coach admits his team didn't play with much intensity or enthusiasm, but the Fighting Tigers still came away with a 58-42 win Friday over the Rock Hill Redmen.

"People can't expect us to play at the top of our game every night. We're not going to win every game by 30 or 40 points," Zornes said. "And every team we play brings their 'A' game. We didn't play well and won by 16, so we're happy with that."

In a previous meeting, Ironton won 68-33.

Ironton sophomore guard Dennis Gagai brought his offensive game to the table. Gagai had a season-high 27 points including 16 in the second half. He also had five rebounds, two assists, and three steals.

Josh Sands finished with 13 points, two assists, and three steals, Derique Bacon had eight points, Joe Zornes five rebounds, and Brigham Waginger five steals and two assists.

"We didn't have a lot of intensity on defense, and we still had 17 steals," coach Zornes said. "We ran a lot of people in and out to keep them fresh since we have to play again (Saturday) night."

Rock Hill (9-5) was led by Derrick Martin with 12 points and 11 rebounds. K.C. Christian added 12 points - 10 in the fourth quarter - to go along with four assists and two steals.

"I thought we did a very good job of handling their pressure. Rickie McDonie's intensity level was high. That was one of his better all-around games," Redmen coach Marty Mills said.

"But Ironton does a great job of pushing you out of your offense."

Just like the previous meeting, Rock Hill took a lead at the end of the first quarter only to have Ironton come to life in the second quarter.

Ironton forced the Redmen into 14 turnovers the first half and held them to just six points in the second quarter. Gagai scoring nine points including a 3-pointer with 1:58 left in the half that made it 25-17.

Sands hit a baseline jumper and Gagai a 15-footer to begin the second half as Ironton jumped in front 29-17.

A layup by Bacon, a steal and layup by Gagai, and then a putback by Gagai extended the Ironton lead to 39-21 with 3:28 left in the third quarter.

Martin, Sean Mullins, and Roger Joseph all scored to cut the deficit to 12, and then Gagai made a pair of foul shots just before the end of the quarter and it was 41-27.

Gagai scored six straight points, then stole the ball and fed Sands for a layup that put the at 52-32 with 4:18 to go.

In the reserve game, Ironton won 48-30 as Jared Murphy, Shawon Miller, and Chad Miller scored eight points each. Nick Snavely had 16 points and Artie Mullins nine for the Redmen.

Rock Hill1161015-42

Ironton10151617-58

ROCK HILL (9-5):

K.C. Christian 3-13

(1-3) 5-6 12, Sean Mullins 1-3 (0-0) 0-0 2, Donald Cade 0-2 (0-0) 0-0 0, Rickie McDonie 3-5 (1-3) 0-3 7, Roger Joseph 2-3 (0-0) 2-2 6, Derrick Martin 5-11 (0-0) 2-2 12, Zach Mullins 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Brian Skaggs 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 15-42

(2-7)

10-15

42. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: Cade, McDonie. Rebounds: 10-17=27 (Martin 11). Team/dead ball rebounds: 3. Assists: 9 (Christian 4). Steals: 7 (Martin 2, Joseph 2, Christian 2). Turnovers: 26. FG% – 35.7. FT% – 66.7. 3pt% – 28.6.

IRONTON (11-2):

Josh Sands 6-9 (1-3) 0-0 13, Brigham Waginger 4-13 (0-2) 0-0 8, Dennis Gagai 10-14 (1-3) 6-6 27, Joe Zornes 1-2 (0-0) 0-0 2, Derique Bacon 4-5 (0-0) 0-0 8, Nick Collins 0-2 (0-0) 0-2 0, Marcus Williams 0-3 (0-0) 0-0 0, Patrick Kouns 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Greg Linn 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Brandon Walker 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 25-48

(2-9)

6-10

58. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 6-17=23 (Gagai 5, Zornes 5). Team/dead ball rebounds: 1. Assists: 9 (Gagai 2, Sands 2, Waginger 2). Steals: 17 (Waginger 5, Sands 3, Gagai 3). Turnovers: 18. FG% – 52. FT% – 60. 3pt% – 22.2.