By Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

This game was a BOGO. Buy one ticket for the first 4 quarters, get the second 4 quarters for free.

The Ironton Fighting Tigers outlasted the Fairland Dragons 76-72 in a four overtime game on Tuesday in an Ohio Valley Conference matchup.

The game saw 12 ties and 16 lead changes, Ironton got two key steals by Amari Felder in the fourth overtime, Braden Schreck scored 8 points and Landen Wilson hit two free throws to seal the win with 10 seconds left.

Ironton coach Chris Barnes said his brother Eric gave a pre-game talk that epitomized the stamina, drive and grit of both teams.

“It’s funny, my brother Eric gives a talk before every game and today’s talk, he’s reading a book about the (U.S. Army) Rangers. And we talk about on our shirts it says ‘All In.’ And we talked about Rangers that if you’ve got to start on that beach or you stay in a fight, you are all in. No one leaves until the fight is over,” said Barnes.

“And that’s what we kept saying after every overtime. I don’t care if we stay here until tomorrow, if they can play until Wednesday, then we can play until Thursday. If they play until Thursday, we’ll play until Friday. That’s the mentality you’ve got to have. Those guys (Fairland) are champions for a reason. You see the fight. That effort was fantastic. Every overtime quarter felt like we were down two or three. In the last quarter we finally got up five or seven and I said ‘thank you.’”

Fairland (6-3, 1-2) was up 8-7 after the first quarter and Ironton tied the game 20-all at the half.

The score see-sawed until Fairland went up 43-39 on a layup by Chase Allen. But a 3-pointer by Wilson and a layup by Schreck put Ironton (3-2, 1-0) back on top.

Wilson sank two free throws for 46-43 lead only to have Allen knock down a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left in the quarter to tie the score and send the game into overtime.

Each team had 4 points in the first overtime and it was 50-all.

In the second overtime, Fairland went up 55-52 on a layup by Brody Buchanan. Shaun Terry hit a 3-pointer for Ironton to tie the game at 55.

Wilson’s foul shot had Ironton up 59-57 with 16 seconds to play in the second overtime but a putback by J.D. Thacker tied the game and forced a third extra quarter.

Each team managed just 4 points in the third overtime and it was 63-63.

But Shcreck hit a 17-footer at the 3:24 mark of the fourth OT, Felder got a steal that led to a 3-point play by Schreck and a 68-63 lead.

Felder had another steal and this time Schreck fed Felder for a layup and a 70-63 lead with 2:13 on the clock.

The Dragons got within 74-72 on a 3-pointer by Will Davis with 13 seconds to go but Wilson was fouled and made both free throws with 10 seconds left and it was 76-72.

Fairland missed on a pair of 3-point shots and Ironton had survived.

Schreck led all scorers with 26 points and Wilson had a career-high 25 points including 9-of-10 at the foul line. Terry hit three 3-pointers in the second half and finished with 12 points and Ethan White had 9 points and 8 rebounds before fouling out with 1:08 left in regulation.

Schreck, Wilson and Barnes played the entire game.

“I’m gassed. Everybody in the locker room was. My feet were hurting since the second overtime,” said Wilson.

“The guys really just got me open. Lincoln (Barnes) and Ethan (White) were on-ball screens for me and Shaun (Terry) and Bigs (Schreck) were finding me on the 3-point line giving me an open look so I can’t really take all the credit for myself.”

Fairland had four players in double figures as Thacker scored 19 points, Buchanan had 17, Leep a career-high 16 and Allen added 13.

The Dragons had their biggest lead of the game in the first half at 18-12 while Ironton led by as many as 5 points in the half and didn’t have its biggest lead until 70-63 in the final overtime.

Neither team used their bench very much.

“We needed that. We’ve had five games and three have been overtime,” said Barnes.

Fairland 8 12 12 14 4 9 4 9 = 72

Ironton 7 13 12 14 4 9 4 13 = 76

FAIRLAND (6-2, 1-2): Will Davis 2 1 0-0 7, Chase Allen 4 1 2-3 13, J.D. Thacker 6 2 1-3 19, Steeler Leep 5 0 6-9 16, Brody Buchanan 4 3 0-1 17, Zion Martin 0 0 0-0 0, Hunter Lykins 0 0 0-0 0, Keegan Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Trevor Lochow 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 28-53 9-17 72. 3-pt goals: 7-16. Rebounds: 4-O, 20-D = 24 (Thacker 7, Smith 5)). Team/deadball rebounds: 3. Assists: 12 (Allen 3, Leep 3). Steals: 4 (Davis 2). Blocks 1.Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 21. Fouled out: Leep (4OT 1:06).

IRONTON (3-2, 1-0): Lincoln Barnes 0 0 2-4 2, Shaun Terry 1 3 1-2 12, Landen Wilson 2 4 9-10 25, Braden Schreck 9 0 8-10 26, Ethan White 3 1 0-2 9, Hayden Carpenter 0 0 0-0 0, Amari Felder 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 24-53 20-29 76.3-pt goals: 8-17. Rebounds: 12-O, 24-D = 36 (Terry 9, White 8, Schreck 6). Team/deadball rebounds: 3. Assists: 9 (Schreck 3, Terry 4, White 2). Steals: 5 (Felder 2). Blocks: 1. Turnover: 8. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: White (4th 1:08).