Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

WAVERLY — Ironton’s D’Laynie Keith celebrated her Sweet 16 birthday on Friday. She and her Lady Fighting Tiger teammates then celebrated their own Sweet 16.

Ironton raced past the Nelsonville-York Lady Buckeyes 63-42 to win the Division III district title and a berth in the Sweet 16 regional tournament.

Ironton jumped on the top-seeded Lady Buckeyes to start the game and never let up as all five starters were in double figures.

“Nelsonville-York is a really good team. The way we played, we came out firing on all cylinders. I’m proud of the way they played,” said Ironton coach Doug Graham.

“All the girls played well. They’re fun to watch. They’re fun to coach. They came in and executed the game plan. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

Lexi Wise had 16 points, five rebounds and three assists as Ironton (19-5) advanced to play Beverly Fort Frye at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday at Logan High School in the regional semifinals.

Wise said going against N-Y freshman point guard Jessie Addis gave her an extra incentive.

“She kind of motivated me. When I heard she was supposed to be the best. I just wanted to push myself harder and give my team all I’ve got,” said Wise.

“(The defense) was the key. I think that it pushed us to make us win. Everyone played a big part especially on defense.”

Lexie Barrier had 14 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and three steals, Cheyenne Scott 10 points and eight rebounds, Sydney Webb 11 points, five rebounds and two steals, and Taylor Hannan 10 points and five rebounds.

“I was getting a little frustrated, but I just had to keep shooting and hope they’d drop in and they did,” said Barrier who had several layups go in and out of the basket.

“Everybody played hard, so it all worked out in the end. This gives us a boost of more confidence. The team is playing better because everybody believes in themselves, so hopefully we’ll win and go farther.”

Kaitlyn Hurd had 14 points — 10 in the first half — and seven rebounds for N-Y (21-4). Madison Davis added 10 points and 14 rebounds.

The Lady Buckeyes had more free throws than field goals. They were 14-of-18 from the line while making only 12-of-55 floor shots for 21.8percent.

After a series of turnovers by both teams, Webb drained as 3-pointer with 5:34 left in the first quarter that not only put Ironton up 3-0 but also enabled her to surpass 1,000 career points.

Hannan followed with a 3-ball and Scott hit a 15-footer for an 8-1 lead as Ironton never trailed in the game.

Layups by Wise and Scott to close the quarter made it 19-7.

A trifecta by Webb and a putback by Wise and Ironton was up 28-15, its biggest lead of the half.

The Lady Tigers went on a 12-0 run to begin the second half that was capped by 3-pointers from Barrier and Hannan and the lead was 40-15 at the 5:50 mark.

“We couldn’t have come out that third quarter and thought we had the game won, but they kept it up and kept the throttle on and had a great victory,” said Graham.

A stickback by Davis at the 5:03 mark was N-Y’s first basket of the quarter. The Lady Buckeyes used five free throws and a three-point play by Camrin Dupler to trailed 48-29 at the end of the quarter.

The Lady Tigers led by as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter.

“The offensive effort was tremendous. When you get this far, team will take away things and you have to go to option two, option three, you’ve got to read that,” said Graham.

“You can’t just say that option isn’t open so what am I going to do with it. You’ve got to step up and rise to the occasion and take advantage of the opportunity presented to you and they did that tonight.”

Ironton 19 9 20 15 = 63

Nelsonville 7 8 14 13 = 42

IRONTON (19-5): Lexi Wise 7 0 2-2 16, Taylor Hannan 1 2 2-2 10, Lexie Barrier 5 1 1-1 14, Sydney Webb 1 3 0-0 11, Cheyenne Scott 5 0 0-0 10, Jordan Hannan 0 0 0-0 0, D’Laynie Keight 1 0 0-0 2, Zakia Lee 0 0 0-0 0, Kenzie Ashley 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-61 5-5 63. 3-point goals: 6-13. Rebounds: 14-off. 30-def. = 44 (Barrier 10, Scott 8, Wise 5, Webb 5, Hannan 5). Team rebounds: 4. Assists: 8 (Wise 3, Barrier 2). Steals: 12 (Barrier 3, J. Hannan 2, Wise 2, Webb 2). Turnovers: 18. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None.

NELSONVILLE-YORK (21-4): Hanna Taylor 0 0 0-0 0, Jessie Addis 0 1 5-6 8, Madison Davis 2 0 6-8 10, Samantha Taylor 0 0 0-0 0, Kaitlyn Hurd 6 0 2-3 14, Camrin Dupler 2 1 1-1 8, Tori Campbell 1 0 0-0 2, Chelsie Mays 0 0 0-0 0, Jordan Fick 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12-55 14-18 42. 3-point goals: 2-19. Rebounds: 15-off. 19-def. = 34 (Davis 14, Hurd 7). Team rebounds: 5. Assists: 1 (Addis). Steals: 9 (Dvis 4, S. Taylor 3). Turnovers: 18. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: None.