LLOYD, Ky. — Let’s see. They shot 34 percent from the floor and 48 percent from the foul line. Yep,

they must have lost.

Or did they?

The unbeaten Ironton Fighting Tigers struggled with their worst shooting performance of the season but still managed to whip the West Carter Comets 56-42 Saturday in the Pepsi Shootout at Greenup County High School.

"We didn't shoot the ball very well and our foul shooting was awful. Fortunately we played pretty good defense," Ironton coach Roger Zornes said. "When you don't shoot well, you rely on your defense to carry you and it did today."

Ironton (5-0) limited West Carter to 13 of 43 shooting for 30 percent and the Comets were only 13 of 22 at the foul line.

Dennis Gagai had 16 points, six rebounds, seven assists and six steals for Ironton which played nearly half the game without point guard Brigham Waginger due to foul trouble. Brent McBride grabbed eight rebounds, Marcus Williams seven and Joe Zornes 6.

Grant Stevens and Kalen Jones scored 12 points each for West Carter, 2-4.

Gagai and Joe Zornes hit 3-pointers as Ironton took a 13-5 first quarter lead. Zornes hit another 3-pointer to start the second quarter and Waginger turned a steal into a layup as the lead went to 18-5.

West Carter went on a 8-0 run and cut the deficit to 18-13. Gagai took over with two layups and a 3-pointer to extended the lead to 25-13 with 3:44 left in the half.

Cliff Howard took a lob pass from Waginger and scored for a 27-17 Ironton lead at the one minute mark. The Comets cut it to 27-21 only to have Howard tip in a shot before the buzzer and it was 29-21.

A 3-pointer by Stevens closed the gap to 34-30 with 3:43 left in the third quarter, but a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Chad Miller and Ironton was up 41-31.

"We didn't shoot the ball well, but we hit some clutch shots. Our depth was a factor. We got some good minutes out of our bench," coach Zornes said.

The Fighting Tigers scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter including a 3-point play by Joe Zornes with 4:09 left to play and the lead was 48-33.

East Carter never got closer than 13 points the rest of the game.

W. Carter5161011-42

Ironton13161215-56

WEST CARTER (2-4):

Grant Stevens 3-14 (1-7) 5-10 12, Michael Hollingsworth 4-6 (1-1) 0-0 9, Eric Butler 1-4 (0-0) 3-4 5, Daniel Barker 0-4 (0-0) 0-2 0, Kalen Jones 4-10 (1-4) 3-4 12, Isaiah Blankenship 0-4 (0-1) 0-0 0, Justin Wolfe 1-1 (0-0) 2-2 4, Kendrick Fankell 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 13-43

(3-13)

13-22

42. Fouls: 23. Fouled out: Butler (4th 1:14). Rebounds: 7-19=26 (Jones 8, Barker 6). Team/deadball rebounds: 5. Assists: 4. Steals: 2. Turnovers: 22.

IRONTON (5-0):

Dennis Gagai 7-17 (2-5) 0-0 16, Brigham Waginger 3-8 (0-1) 2-2 8, Joe Zornes 3-6 (2-4) 3-5 11, Cliff Howard 4-6 (0-0) 0-1 8, Brent McBride 1-9 (0-0) 2-5 4, Marcus Williams 1-4 (0-0) 3-9 5, Brandon Walker 0-4 (0-2) 0-0 0, Greg Linn 0-3 (0-0) 0-0 0, Brian Wirzfeld 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Chad Miller 1-1 (1-1) 1-2 3. Totals: 20-58

(5-13)

11-24

56. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 15-19=34 (McBride 8, Williams 7, Gagai 6, Howard 6). Assists: 14 (Gagai 7, Waginger 5). Steals: 15 (Gagai 6, Waginger 3, McBride 3). Turnovers: 12.