By Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

They say that close games are decided by free throws and turnovers.

Well, this was a close game.

Both factors came into play as the South Point Pointers got by the Ironton Fighting Tigers 56-49 in an Ohio Valley Conference game on Tuesday.

“The kids play a good game,” said Pointers’ coach Travis Wise. “We struggled a little to score early, but we handled their pressure and made free throws late.”

Ironton coach Chris Barnes said free throws were a big difference. The Pointers were 11-of-12 from the foul line including 7-of-8 in the fourth quarter when the Fighting Tigers were forced to foul.

Ironton was 8-of-14 at the foul line.

“We did a really good job on (Caleb) Lovely but we had a poor start overall defending early and then we really picked it up,” said Barnes.

Basically, it came down to free throws and you have to give them credit. They made them and we didn’t. We played hard. We just have to bounce back on Friday.”

Lovely came into the game averaging 26 points a game but was held to 11. But Jordan Ermalovich and Xander Dornon each scored 12 points and Jaxon Vance added 11 points for the Pointers (7-3, 4-1).

“They were focusing on Lovely and the other kids stepped up. It was a good road win,” said Wise.

While South Point had 15 turnovers, Ironton had just 10, but many came right after forcing a South Point turnover.

“We don’t have much margin for error in games. We have to play hard and not turning the ball overall keeps us close, but we either have to shoot it well or make free throws and we didn’t really do either of those tonight,” said Barnes.

Shaun Terry had 18 points and 4 steals for Ironton while Braden Schreck got 14 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Ethan White had 8 points and 4 boards.

The game was tied only 3 times but there were 12 lead changes. The Pointers biggest lead was the final score and Ironton’s biggest lead was 3 points.

The Pointers led most of the first quarter including 14-8 on a layup by Dornon, but a layup by Lincoln Barnes and Shaun Terry’s 3-pointer play and layup just before the buzzer put Ironton ahead 15-14.

The lead see-sawed in the second quarter until layups by Terry and Schreck put Ironton up 29-26.

A layup by Ermalovich before the end of the half got the Pointers within 29-28.

White’s layup and Terry’s trifecta put Ironton up 34-28 to begin the second half. But the Pointers got a 3-pointer from Carter Smith and a putback by Dornon gave them a 35-34 lead.

Another layup by Ermalovich just before the buzzer put the Pointers up 42-39.

Terry’s layup and two foul shots and a layup by Landen Wilson gave Ironton a 45-42 lead. The Pointers then scored 6 straight points to take the lead for good a 48-45 lead.

A layup by Ermalovich and two foul shots each by Dornon and Xathan Haney made it 54-49 and sealed the outcome.

South Point 14 14 14 14 = 56

Ironton     15 14 10 10 = 49

SOUTH POINT (7-3, 4-1): Caleb Lovely 2 1 4-4 11, Josh Childers 1 0 0-0 2, Jaxon Vance 3 1 2-2 11, Jordan Ermalovich 3 2 0-0 12, Xander Dornon 5 0 2-3 12, Carter Smith 0 1 0-0 3, Elijah Wilburn 0 0 0-0 0, Xathan Haney 1 0 3-3 5, Brayden Hanshaw 0 0 0-0 0, Jackson Childrers 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-38 11-12 56. 3-pt goals: 5-11. Rebounds: 25 (Dornon 9, Lovely 7). Assists: 11 (Lovely 5, Ermalovich 4). Steals: 5 (Ermalovich 3). Turnovers: 15. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.

IRONTON (3-3, 1-1): Lincoln Barnes 1 0 0-0 2, Shaun Terry 6 1 3- 18, Landen Wilson 1 0 2-3 4, Braden Schreck 4 1 3-4 14, Ethan White 4 0 0-0 8, Amari Felder 0 0 0-0 0, Tayden Carpenter 0 1 0-0 3. Totals: 19-46 8-14 49. 3-pt goals: 3-10. Rebounds: 4-O, 15-D =19 (White 4, Schreck 4, Terry 4, Barnes 3). Assists: 7 (Schreck 3, Terry 2). Steals: 10 (Terry 4, White 2, Barnes 2). Blocks: 1 (Wilson). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.ss