A quick glance at the game notes painted a gloomy picture for the Ironton Fighting Tigers.

Starting guard Tim Kochendoerfer didn’t play due to an injury. Ironton shot a dismal 32 percent from the field. Leading scorer Dustin Green had just six points. Starter Michael Lamb only played about half the game and fouled out with two minutes to play in regulation.

And Ironton fell behind 14-2 at the start of the game and trailed by 14 points in the third quarter.

Despite all the dismal happenings, the Ironton Fighting Tigers battled back to beat the Portsmouth Trojans 62-55 in overtime Friday in a Southeastern Ohio Athletic League game.

“There were so many things stacked against us and somehow we found a way to win and that’s a tribute to our players. They could easily have folded, but they didn’t quit,” said Ironton coach Mark LaFon.

“We made some mistakes and took some shots when we didn’t need to, but we played so hard it’s tough to get mad at them for the things they did wrong.”

Lamb still led Ironton (8-2, 4-0) with 17 points to go with six rebounds. He had eight points in the first quarter to prevent Portsmouth was putting the game away early.

Johnathon Schweickart scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Lukas Morris had 12 points and nine rebounds, and Tommy Waginger came off the bench to score 11 points including four clutch free throws in overtime to seal the win.

Erin Edens had only two points, but he grabbed 12 rebounds and had six assists along with two steals.

“It was a rough game, but that’s the way it’s supposed to be,” said Edens.

The smaller Fighting Tigers dominated the boards 41-33 including 29 offensive boards. LaFon said rebounding was the biggest key to the win.

“Our kids stayed after it and did a great job on the boards. Erin Edens played like a warrior. He never came off the floor,” said LaFon.

A layup by Andrew Bendolph gave Portsmouth a comfortable 31-21 halftime lead. A 3-pointer by Jacob Stevens opened up the biggest lead of the game at 39-25 with 5:22 left in the third quarter.

But Morris scored eight of his points including a baseline jumper before the end of the quarter to cut the deficit to 43-37.

A free throw by Schweickart with 3:47 left in the fourth quarter gave Ironton its first lead at 44-43. Zach Link hit a 15-footer to put Portsmouth up 48-46, but Schweickart’s layup with 1:05 on clock tied the game.

Ironton missed three shots from close range as time ran out.

Anthony Williams putback of his own shot gave the Trojans at 52-50 lead, but Dustin Green drilled a trey with 2:12 left in overtime to put Ironton up for good.

Portsmouth trailed 56-55 after a foul shot by Williams, but Waginger made four straight free throws to put the lead at 60-55 and Morris hit two more with 21 seconds left.

“For some reason, I really wasn’t that nervous. I felt good standing there,” said Waginger.

Portsmouth (5-2, 1-2) had four players in double figures as Tory Horne scored 12, Williams and Stevens 11 each, and Bendolph 10.

Portsmouth 19 12 12 5 7 = 55

Ironton 11 10 16 11 14 = 62

PORTSMOUTH (5-2, 2-2): Zach Link 4 0 1-4 9, Jacob Stevens 0 3 2-2 11, Tory Horne 2 2 2-2 12, Anthony Williams 5 0 1-2 11, Andrew Bendolph 2 2 0-0 10, Nate Cadogan 1 0 0-1 2, Corey Allison 0 0 0-0 0, Nick Nelson 0 0 0-0 0, London Malone 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-50 6-11 55. Fouls: 21. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 7-19. Rebounds: 10-23=33 (Williams 11, Stevens 7). Assists: 15 (Horne 7, Bendolph 4), Steals: 5 (Horne 2, Bendolph 2). Turnovers: 22. Blocked shots: Cadogan.

IRONTON (8-2, 4-0): Johnathon Schweickart 6 0 2-4 14, Lukas Morris 4 0 4-4 12, Dustin Green 1 1 1-2 6, Erin Edens 1 0 0-0 2, Michael Lamb 8 0 1-1 17, Tommy Waginger 1 1 6-7 11, Malcolm Morton 0 0 0-2 0, Robbie Webb 0 0 0-0 0, Travis Elliott 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-71 14-20 62. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: Lamb (4th 2:01). 3-point goals: 3-12. Rebounds: 29-22=51 (Edens 12, Schweickart 9, Morris 9, Lamb 6). Assists: 11 (Edens 6, Morris 2). Steals: 9 (Schweickart 3, Edens 2, Morton 2). Turnovers: 10.

RESERVES: Ironton 40, Portsmouth 37. Ironton scoring: Tres Wilkes1, Mac Carter 2, Michael Lawless 1, J.P. Taylor 15, Jon Norris 9, Josh Murphy 7. Portsmouth: Staker1, Gulley 3, Adams 2, Malone 6, Bratchett 4, P. Underwood 8, T. Underwood 6, Bray 2.