The reserve game was supposed to be played first.

Missing starter Joe Zornes and backups Greg Linn and Brandon Walker to injuries, the Ironton Fighting Tigers found themselves shorthanded.

To compensate for being shorthanded, Dennis Gagai and Cliff Howard got the hot hand as they helped Ironton knock off the South Point Pointers 64-39 Tuesday.

Gagai had 27 points including 6 of 12 from behind the arc while Howard - 8 of 8 from the field - had 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Brent McBride filled in for Zornes and had 9 points while Brian Wirzfeld came off the bench to score 7 points including two key baskets in the second quarter.

"The second half we played well. The first half we'll forget about," Ironton coach Roger Zornes said. "With those three guys out, we were really out of sync the first half."

Although Ironton didn't shoot well, the Fighting Tigers pounded the boards by outrebounding the Pointers 41-23.

"We weren't blocking them out the first half. That was a point of emphasis at halftime," coach Zornes said.

J.T. Terry led South Point (5-10) with 16 points and Ryan Hong scored 12.

Ironton, 15-0 and ranked third in the Associated Press Division III poll, jumped out to a 12-1 lead and led 12-4 at the end of the first quarter.

But the shooting - especially at the foul line - went south in the second quarter and point guard Brigham Waginger sat out with foul trouble as the Pointers made a run.

South Point got within 19-18 on a layup by Terry, but Howard and Wirzfeld each followed up missed shots as Ironton took a 23-19 halftime lead.

Gagai drained two 3-pointers and his steal and layup with 4:06 left in the third quarter put Ironton up 36-22. A 15-footer by Hong had the Pointers down 26-24 at the end of the quarter.

"The second half we used our press to get some turnovers and get us some points and that kicked us into gear. We went inside to Cliff and he made some nice moves,

and then Dennis got the range and when he gets hot, he can cause problems."

After Hong scored, Howard hit two straight shots inside, Gagai had a layup and McBride converted a 3-point play with 5:31 to play as Ironton went up 46-28. Ironton used a 10-0 run capped by Wirzfeld's 3-pointer with 13 seconds left to give Ironton its biggest win.

In the reserve game, Ironton won 47-31 as Marc Carter scored 16 points and T.J. Keith 9. Aaron Barnett had 9 points for South Point.

South Point415515-39

Ironton12111328-64

SOUTH POINT (5-10):

Ryan Hong 4-9 (2-6) 2-4 12, J.T. Terry 6-16 (4-11) 0-0 16, David Absher 0-3 (0-0) 0-0 0, Chase McWhorter 2-11 (1-7) 0-0 5, Jeremiah Taylor 1-4 (0-0) 2-4 4, Joey Stevens 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Aaron Barnett 0 0 0-0 0, Levi Garred 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Chris Brown 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Zach Norris 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Heath Bridges 1-1 (0-0) 0-0 2. Totals: 14-45

(7-24)

4-10

39. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 4-12=16 (McWhorter 5, Absher 5). Team/deadball rebounds: 7. Assists: 2 (Hong 2). Steals: 7 (Terry 3). Turnovers: 18.

IRONTON (15-0):

Dennis Gagai 10-19

(6-12)

1-1 27, Brigham Waginger 2-9 (0-3) 0-0 4, Cliff Howard 8-8 (0-0) 1-3 17, Marcus Williams 0-3 (0-0) 0-0 0, Brent McBride 3-6 (0-1) 3-8 9, Brian Wirzfeld 3-4 (1-1) 0-1 7, Patrick Kouns 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Chad Miller 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Shawon Miller 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Michael Phillips 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 26-50

(7-16)

5-13

64. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 14-26=40 (Howard 10, Gagai 6, Waginger 5, Williams 5). Assists: 13 (Waginger 9). Steals: 9 (Gagai 4, McBride 3). Turnovers: 18.