Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

When the Ironton Fighting Tigers turned the defense on, they tuned a close game into a rout.

Leading by just one point after the first quarter, Ironton went to work from that point on and cruised past the Lucasville Valley Indians 84-50 Tuesday in their season opener.

Ironton had four of their 12 turnovers in the first quarter and missed all six 3-point field goal attempts. Lucasville was 7 of 16 from the floor in the first quarter but just 3 of 10 in the second quarter.

“We started to play better defense in the second quarter and it was the difference,” said Ironton coach Mark LaFon. “The defense turns into offense. We played hard and rebounded aggressively.”

Trey Fletcher had a big game with 26 points, 9 rebounds and 2 steals for Ironton. Zac Carter wasn’t far behind with 22 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and a pair of steals.

Trevor White had a solid effort with 11 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals. Triston Cox had 8 points off the bench.

“When Trevor locks in and plays physical, he can play this way every game,” said LaFon. “I also though Tristan Cox played pretty well.”

Jordan West and Bryan Rolfe scored 11 points each for the Indians (1-1).

Valley led 7-2 before Ironton came back to take the lead for good at 11-7 as White converted a 3-point play, Fletcher made a layup and Carter had a layup and a 15-footer with 4:12 left in the quarter.

Leading 17-16 after the first quarter, White made a layup and Fletcher drained a trifecta and it was 22-16.

A free throw by Hayden Dunn had Valley down 31-20 with 4:45 left in the half. Fletcher hit another 3-pointer to start a 9-0 run and his put-back ended it as Ironton led 39-20. A layup by Carter with 41 seconds on the clock put the lead at 43-25 at the break.

The Fighting Tigers led by as many as 27 in the third quarter on two foul shots by Fletcher with 1:37 on the clock.

“We wanted to control the tempo and I think they got fatigued and started to turn the ball over. They’ll be a good team by the end of the season,” said LaFon.

Joe Bowling’s 3-point with 1:15 left to play not only set the final score but also gave Ironton its biggest lead of the game.

The Fighting Tigers visit Portsmouth on Saturday in hopes of exacting some revenge. The Trojans won two of the three meetings last year including a win in the regional finals that sent them to the state tournament.

Lucasvllle 16 9 16 9 = 50

Ironton 17 26 20 21 = 84

LUCASVILLE VALLEY (1-1): Jordan West 4 1 0-0 11, Hayden Dunn 2 0 2-4 6, Chris Flowers 2 0 3-4 7, Will Howard 1 0 6-10 8, Zach Shope 0 2-4 2, Ethan Holbrook 2 0 1-2 5, Bryan Rolfe 4 1 0-3 11, Ryan Brown 0 0 0-0 0, Dakota Baker 0 0 0-0 0, Caleb Miller 0 0 0-0 0, Kyle Miller 0 0 0-0 0, Cole Delotell 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-49 14-27 50. 3-point goals: 2-15 (Holbrook 0-1, West 1-9, Flowers 0-2, Shope 0-1, Rolfe 1-1, Baker 0-1). Rebounds: 8-25=33 (Dunn 8). Team rebounds: 6. Assists: 5 (Shope 3). Steals: 3. Turnovers: 21. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None.

IRONTON (1-0): Zac Carter 6 1 7-9 22, Josh Glover 1 0 0-0 2, Trevor White 5 0 1-1 11, Trey Fletcher 7 3 3-6 26, Aaron Stephens 1 0 1-4 3, Darrius Boykin 0 1 0-0 3, Joe Bowling 0 2 0-0 6, Nate Garred 0 0 2-2 2, Tristan Cox 3 0 2-4 8, Isaac Sherman 0 0 0-0 0, Jalen Schweickart 0 0 1-2 1, Trevor Easterling 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 30-60 17-28 84. 3-point goals: 7-21 (Carter 1-6, Fletcher 3-7, Boykin 1-2, Bowling 2-3, Cox 0-2). Rebounds: 10-32=42 (Fletcher 9, White 8, Carter 6). Team rebounds: 1. Assists: 9 (Carter 5). Steals: 11 (White 3, Fletcher 2, Carter 2, Boykin 2). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: White (4th 4:39).