Chance Short
chance.short@irontontribune.com

The visiting Fairland Dragons knocked the Ironton Fighting Tigers off their horse on Friday night to snap their four-game win streak in an Ohio Valley Conference game.
The Fighting Tigers were without senior leader Trent Hacker for the game as they fell 52-35.
Ironton drew first blood with the game’s opening basket, but it would be their only lead of the game as the Dragons finished the quarter on a 15-2 run to take a big first quarter advantage.
Clayton Thomas called ‘on fire’ after his three triples in the first quarter for Fairland to kick-start the offense.
The Fighting Tigers came roaring back in the second quarter behind Erickson Barnes’ 5 points as they went on to outscore the Dragons 12-10 in the period, but still trailed by nine at the break 25-16.
“I was proud of our effort, but we turned the ball over too much and we have to do a better job at stopping the ball on dribble drives. Give Ironton and (Erickson) Barnes credit, you have to keep a shade at him at all times because he can score in a hurry,” said Fairland coach Nathan Speed.
Barnes scored 5 more points out of the break — one being a 3-pointer that brought the Fighting Tigers within seven points before another Dragon momentum swing.
Fairland stretched it out in the closing minutes of the third to take a 40-24 lead after three quarters of play.
Aiden Porter solidified the win for Fairland with 7 points in the final quarter as he paced the Dragons with a game high 17 points. Thomas added 13 points and Jordan Williams grabbed 10 rebounds.
Barnes led the Fighting Tigers with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Caleb Hopper scored 8 points as well for Ironton.
“(Fairland) is a very solid team, but we did a lot of very poor things. We lost Thomas in transition and we didn’t block out on the glass. You have to play 32 minutes was the first thing on the board,” said Ironton coach P.J. Fitch.
“I’m very proud of Barnes. He’s not just a 3-point shooter. He makes a move and goes to the basket and he’s our leading rebounder even though he plays away from the basket.”
Fairland will play a back-to-back with a road trip to Portsmouth on Saturday. Ironton will go a few minutes up the road on Tuesday to take on Coal Grove.
Fairland 15 10 15 12 = 52
Ironton 4 12 10 9 = 35
FAIRLAND (13-4, 10-1): Jacob Polcyn 3-4 1-1 0-0 9, Aiden Porter 5-7 2-5 1-2 17, Gavin Hunt 1-3 1-4 0-0 5, Clayton Thomas 2-3 3-6 0-0 13, Jordan Williams 1-1 0-0 0-1 2, Zander Schmidt 1-2 1-4 0-0 5, Steeler Leep 0-0 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 13-20 8-21 2-5 52. 3-pt goals: 8-20. Rebounds: 6-O, 17-D = 23 (Williams 10, Thomas 5). Team/deadball rebounds: 4. Assists: 5 (Thomas 2, Porter 2). Steals: 4 (Thomas 2, Williams 2). Turnovers: 8. Fouls:10. Fouled out: None.
IRONTON (7-5, 7-5): Landen Wilson 0-4 0-0 1-2 1, Aaron Masters 0-2 0-3 0-0 0, Caleb Hopper 3-4 0-0 2-2 8, Blake Porter 2-6 0-0 1-2 5, Erickson Barnes 2-3 3-10 0-0 13, Will York 1-1 0-0 0-0 2, Tayden Carpenter 1-3 0-1 0-0 2, Jackson Vance 2-2 0-0 0-1 4. Totals: 11-25 3-15 4-7 35. Rebounds: 12-O, 19-D = 31 (Barnes 107). Team/deadball rebounds: 4. Assists: 6 (Barnes 2, Wilson 2). Steals: 4. Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None.