SOUTH POINT — Basketball is usually a five-man game. Sometimes you’ll see those 3-on-3 tournaments.

But Ironton coach Mark LaFon introduced a new style of just four players as the Ironton Fighting Tigers rolled past the South Point Pointers 63-44 Tuesday in a non-league game.

LaFon wanted his defense to shut down Pointers guard Chris Brown despite not having his best defender Alstan Carter who missed the game with an illness.

The plan worked.

“We wanted to take Brown out of the game and play four-on-four and we did that,” LaFon said.

While the defense was limited Brown to 6 foul shots, Tyler Shoemaker turned in a big all-around game with 19 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and a blocked shot.

Chad Miller took over Carter’s starting spot and responded with another big game as he scored 15 points to go with 5 steals and 2 assists. Dustin Greene came off the bench to get 11 points including three 3-point goals.

Chase McWhorter led the Pointers (4-2) with 24 points and 6 rebounds.

“McWhorter played hard for three quarters and then I think we just wore him down. He’s going to get his 20, so we let him have his points and we took Brown away,” LaFon said.

“Dustin shot the ball extremely well. We know he can shoot the ball. I thought our bench did a nice job.”

Ironton (3-1) came out of the starting gate with a 12-0 run and never looked back.

South Point got within 16-12 on a layup by Joey Stevens with 5:14 left in the first half, but the Pointers never got any closer.

A 3-pointer by Greene and a layup by Miller over the final 1:44 of the half gave Ironton a 31-19 halftime cushion.

Shoemaker had a 3-point play with 3:50 left in the third quarter that gave Ironton a 40-22 lead. Miller hit a 3-pointer and Andy Colegrove had a layup to close out the quarter and push the lead to 47-31.

The Fighitng Tigrs led by as many as

25 points in the fourth quarter when Green hit a 3-pointer with 2:40 to go.

Ironton12191616=63

South Point8111213=44

IRONTON (3-1): Marc Carter 0 1 2-2 5, Chad Miller 4 1 4-4 15, Tyler Shoemaker 6 1 4-5 19, T.J. Keith 1 0 0-0 2, Andy Colegrove 1 0 1-2 3, Dustin Greene 0 3 2-2 11, Shannon Hensley 0 0 0-0 0, Drew Kuehne 0 0 1-2 1, Zach Christensen 1 1 2-4 7, Bub Johnson 0 0 0-0 0, Lukas Morris 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-42

16-21

63. 3-point goals: 7-14. Fouls: 21. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 14-20=34 (Shoemaker 11, Keith 5, Christensen 5). Assists: 11 (Shoemaker 5, M. Carter 4, Miller 2). Steals: 13 (Miller 5, Shoemaker 3, Keith 2). Turnovers: 21. Blocked shots: 1 (Shoemaker).

SOUTH POINT (4-2): Chris Brown 0 0 6-7 6, Kyle Hughes 0 0 0-0 0, Beau Weed 0 0 0-1 0, Chase McWhorter 5 1 9-10 24, Heath Bridges 0 1 0-0 3, Zach Woody 0 0 0-2 0, Corey Taylor 0 0 2-2 2, Joey Stevens 1 0 0-2 2, Chase Kratzenberg 1 0 0-0 2, Justin Snyder 0 1 0-0 3, Jordan Foster 0 0 0-0 0, Aaron Craft 1 0 0-0 2. Totals:12-38

17-24

44. 3-point goals: 3-14. Rebounds: 8-6=14 (McWhorter 6). Assists: 8 (Brown 2, Bridges 2). Steals: 5 (Woody 2). Blocked shots: 0. Turnovers: 16.

Ironton12191616=63

South Point8111213=44

IRONTON (3-1): Marc Carter 0 1 2-2 5, Chad Miller 4 1 4-4 15, Tyler Shoemaker 6 1 4-5 19, T.J. Keith 1 0 0-0 2, Andy Colegrove 1 0 1-2 3, Dustin Greene 0 3 2-2 11, Shannon Hensley 0 0 0-0 0, Drew Kuehne 0 0 1-2 1, Zach Christensen 1 1 2-4 7, Bub Johnson 0 0 0-0 0, Lukas Morris 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-42

16-21

63. 3-point goals: 7-14. Fouls: 21. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 14-20=34 (Shoemaker 11, Keith 5, Christensen 5). Assists: 11 (Shoemaker 5, M. Carter 4, Miller 2). Steals: 13 (Miller 5, Shoemaker 3, Keith 2). Turnovers: 21. Blocked shots: 1 (Shoemaker).

SOUTH POINT (4-2): Chris Brown 0 0 6-7 6, Kyle Hughes 0 0 0-0 0, Beau Weed 0 0 0-1 0, Chase McWhorter 5 1 9-10 24, Heath Bridges 0 1 0-0 3, Zach Woody 0 0 0-2 0, Corey Taylor 0 0 2-2 2, Joey Stevens 1 0 0-2 2, Chase Kratzenberg 1 0 0-0 2, Justin Snyder 0 1 0-0 3, Jordan Foster 0 0 0-0 0, Aaron Craft 1 0 0-0 2. Totals:12-38

17-24

44. 3-point goals: 3-14. Rebounds: 8-6=14 (McWhorter 6). Assists: 8 (Brown 2, Bridges 2). Steals: 5 (Woody 2). Blocked shots: 0. Turnovers: 16.