By JIM WALKER

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

Things started poorly for the Ironton Fighting Tigers and as the game wore on, they just got worse.

Ironton struggled in every facet of the game in a 67-37 loss to the. Portsmouth Trojans on Tuesday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

The loss ended a 10-game winning streak by Ironton against Portsmouth and threw the OVC race into a three-way tie for first place. Ironton, Portsmouth and South Point are all 4-1 in the league.

“I’m at a loss. We’re going to have a major talk. We have to figure out if we want to play basketball,” said Ironton coach Chris Barnes.

“We’re not focused and every team is shooting the lights out on us and that’s because we’re not playing any defense. Everybody shoots good if you don’t guard them.”

Ironton (7-3) shot just 16-of-49 from the field for 38.7 percent and a meager 2-of-15 from behind the arc for 13 percent. The Fighting Tigers also had a season-high 17 turnovers, mostly unforced.

Portsmouth (7-2) was 28-of-59 from the floor 47.5 percent and 9-of-15 from the 3-point line for a sizzling 60 percent.

“We’re not doing anything we haven’t done the past two and a half years. We’re going to have to get back to playing defense,” said Barnes. “We’re not a great offensive basketball team. When we play great defense, now we’re a pretty good basketball offensive team because we feed off our defense.”

Portsmouth jumped out to a 12-2 start before Bryce Markins hit a 3-pointer and got Ironton within 12-7.

LaVaughn Cobb hit a 3-pointer and Deandre Berry had a steal and layup and the Trojans led 17-7. Ironton’s Braden Schreck converted a 3-point play to make it 17-10 at the end of the quarter.

A putback by Schreck had Ironton down 20-12 only to have Luke Stine hit a pair of laps and Donovan Breech followed up a missed shot and the lead went to 26-12 with 5:07 left in the half.

Ashton Layne got 2 baskets and Bailey Thacker a layup and Ironton was down 26-18 with 3:51 to go in the half.

But Portsmouth went on a 15-2 run to end the half and the lead grew to 41-20.

“We’re getting horrible starts. We’re out of character as a team. We have to get that fire back,” said Barnes.

A layup by Layne got Ironton within 46-31 midway through the third quarter but the Fighting Tigers would get no closer as Portsmouth pulled away and took a 52-31 lead at the end of the quarter.

Layne had 10 points and 7 rebounds as Ironton had its lowest offensive output of the season.

Berry had a game-high 26 points for the Trojans while Breech scored 12 and Loper added 10.

Portsmouth    17 24 11 16 = 67

Ironton     10 10 11 6 = 37

PORTSMOUTH (7-2, 4-1): Isaiah Lewis 1 2 0-0 8, Donavon Breech 3 2 0-0 12, Malachi Loper 1 2 2-2 10, Nathaniel Berry 0 0 0-0 0, Camron Williams 0 0 0-0 0, Noah Livingston 0 0 0-0 0, LaVaughn 0 1 0-0 3, Leland Scurlock 1 0 0-0 2, Jayden Brewer 1 0 0-0 2, Luke Stine 2 0 0-0 4, Deandre Berry 10 2 0-3 26. Totals: 28-59 2-5 67. 3-pt goals: 9-16. Rebounds: O-12 D-19 = 31. Assists: 13. Steals: 10. Blocks: 1. Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.

IRONTON (7-3, 4-1): Shaun Terry 3 1 0-0 9, Braylon Sturgill 1 0 1-2 3, Bailey Thacker 1 0 0-0 2, Bryce Markins 0 1 0-0 3, Judah Barnes 0 0 0-0 0, Tyler Roach 0 0 0-0 0, Markel Cotton 1 0 0-0 2, Braden Schreck 3 0 2-3 8, Ashton Layne 5 0 0-0 10, Noah Patterson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-49 3-5 37. 3-pt goals: 2-15. Rebounds: O-12 D-14 = 26 (Layne 7, Terry 7, Schreck 6). Assists: 5 (Terry 3). Steals: 2 (Markins, Cotton). Blocks: 5 (Thacker 3). Turnovers: 17. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.