WAVERLY — The Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers treated the Huntington Ross Lady Huntsmen like a condemned building and boarded them up.

Ironton won the rebounding battle and played its typical strong defense to beat Huntington Ross 45-35 Wednesday in the Division III semifinals.

“Their game centers on (Chelsea) Eblin, so we wanted to take away their inside game and beat them on the boards and we were able to do that,” Ironton coach Amy Hughes said.

“Danielle Henderson held Eblin to just six points. She couldn’t get the ball. And we kept them off the boards and that was a big key for us.”

By limiting Eblin to eight rebounds — only one in the second half — Ironton was able to take a 34-21 rebound advantage.

Sara Hacker proved to be Mrs. Clean for Ironton as she cleaned the glass for 13 rebounds. Ciara Taylor and Jessica Waddle had six rebounds and Mandi Boykin five.

“A big key for us was rebounding. That’s what we focused on all week. We had to keep Eblin off the boards,” Hacker said.

Henderson’s defense not only kept Eblin off the boards, it also held her in check offensively with just six points. Eblin did not attempt a shot in the fourth quarter.

“Coach (Hughes) told me Eblin was my main focus,” Henderson said. “Coach said don’t let her catch the ball and keep her off the boards. She was more physical than most of the girls I’ve faced.”

Ironton, 21-2, will play Lynchburg Clay, 20-3, at 7 p.m. Friday, March 3, in the district finals at the Waverly downtown arena.

Lynchburg beat Alexander 54-35 in Wednesday’s other semifinal game.

Besides the defense and rebounding, Hughes said another key for her team was the added crowd support.

“The (student) cheer block and the fans were huge. I appreciate the administration for getting that started. The fans were the sixth man for us. It was a real boost to our girls,” Hughes said.

Ross went in front 4-0 to start the game.

Boykin followed up a missed shot, turned a steal into a layup and Henderson’s two foul shots put Ironton ahead for good at 6-4 with 5:55 left in the first quarter.

Jessica Waddle converted a three-point play and added another free throw a couple of minutes later to complete a 10-0 run. Ironton led 12-7 at the end of the quarter.

“Our fastbreak was good early. It got us the lead and then our defense took over,” Hughes said.

A 3-poiner by Toshia Zimmerman cut Ironton’s lead to 18-16 with 23 seconds left in the half. Waddle’s 15-footer with eight seconds on the clock put the Lady Tigers up 20-16 at the break.

A steal and layup by Henderson gave Ironton its biggest lead to date at 29-21 witih 3:30 on the third quarter clock. The Lady Huntsmen were able to get back within three points on a layup by Lydia Bridenbaugh before Waddle’s foul shot with three seconds left made it 30-26.

A steal and layup by Boykin with 5:30 to play opened up a 38-28 lead.

However, Boykin fouled out with 2:33 left and Huntington Ross got within 41-35 on a 3-pointer by Zimmerman with 1:02 on the clock.

But Waddle hit the front end of a one-and-one and, after the Huntsmen threw the ball out of bounds, Mercedes Crockrel made a layup with 42 seconds to play that pushed the lead to 44-35 and sealed the outcome.

Waddle led Ironton with 16 points to go with six rebounds. Boykin had 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Ciara Taylor also had six rebounds.

Bridenbaugh scored 14 points and Zimmerman 11 to lead the Lady Huntsmen (19-4) who saw their 19-game winning streak snapped.

Hunt. Ross79109=35

Ironton1281015=45

HUNTINGTON ROSS (19-4): Courtney Jenkins 2-11 (0-2) 0-0 4, Shondra Kellough 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Toshia Zimmerman 4-12 (3-7) 0-0 11, Lydia Bridenbaugh 5-15 (0-4) 4-5 14, Chelsea Eblin 2-5 (0-0) 2-5 6, Kari Gibson 0-3 (0-2) 0-0 0, Brittany Cunningham 0-1 (0-1) 0-0 0, Julie Posey 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 13-47

(3-15)

6-10

45. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 6-15=21 (Eblin 8, Bridenbaugh 5, Jenkins 3). Team/deadball rebounds: 5. Assists: 2 (Gibson, Kellough). Steals: 1 (Cunningham). Turnovers: 12. Blocked shots: 2 (Eblin, Bridenbaugh).

IRONTON (21-2): Jessica Waddle 6-16 (0-0) 4-8 16, Danielle Henderson 2-2 (0-0) 2-2 6, Mandi Boykin 6-9 (0-1) 1-4 13, Ciara Taylor 0-2 (0-0) 0-0 0, Sara Hacker 3-10 (0-1) 1-3 7, Mercedes Crockrel 1-1 (0-0) 1-2 3. Totals: 18-39

(0-2)

9-19

45. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: Boykin (4th 2:33). Rebounds: 11-23=34 (Hacker 13, Taylor 6, Waddle 6, Boykin 5, Henderson 3). Assists: 5 (Boykin 2, Waddle 2, Taylor 1). Steals: 6 (Taylor 3, Boykin 2, Hacker 1). Turnovers: 13. Blocked shots: 1 (Boykin).