By JIM WALKER

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

The Ironton Fighting Tigers did a good job going deep into the game, but they just needed a closer.

No, this isn’t about the baseball team. Ironton gave a strong performance against a talented Spring Valley team on Monday before the Fighting Tigers lost a late lead as the unbeaten Timberwolves rallied for a 79-75 win.

“Overall, we played surprisingly well. That’s a very good team and we played really, really well for three and a half quarters,” said Ironton coach Chris Barnes. “We still just need another guard to step up under pressure. That’s where we really miss Shaun (Terry) the most right now, but we’ll figure it out.”

The thing that was hard to figure out was stopping the Timberwolves tandem of Clay Robertson and Harrison Riggs who combined for 61 points as Robertson scored 39 points and Riggs 22. The players average more than 24 points a game.

Ironton (2-2) got some strong performances led by Braden Schreck with 21 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Markel Cotton came up big with 19 points including three 3-pointers to go with 7 rebounds. Bryce Markins had 15 points on five 3-pointers and Judah Barnes got 10 points, 3 assists and 4 steals.

Markins hit a pair of 3-pointers and Barnes had a trey as Ironton took a 13-11 lead.

But the T-Wolves (6-0) went on 10-0 run to take a 21-13 lead before Barnes hit a jumper, Cotton had a layup and Schreck sank a free throw with no time on the clock to put Ironton up 21-18.

Robertson sank a foul shot to start the second quarter for the T-Wolves but Tyler Roach connected on 2 foul shots and Cotton hit a 3-pointer and Ironton was up 23-22.

Riggs’ layup put Spring Valley back on top only to have Cotton and Roach score back-to-back baskets and Ironton was ahead for the rest of the half.

Cotton hit another 3-pointer and Schreck made a foul shot and then converted a 3-point play as the lead went to 34-26.

Robertson had 2 foul shots and Colton Caldwell made a layup and it was 34-30. But Schreck hit a 15-footer with 2 seconds left and Ironton led 36-30 at the break.

Cotton had a layup and Ashton Layne followed up his own shot as Ironton took a 48-32 lead less than midway through the third quarter.

But the T-Wolves went on a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to 50-45. Schreck’s foul shot with 6 seconds on the clock put the Fighting Tigers up 51-45.

The game went back and forth to start the fourth quarter until a putback by Layne and a 3-pointer by Markins opened up a 66-56 lead with 4 minutes left in the game.

But turnovers plagued the Fighting Tigers in the fourth quarter as they committed 5 costly miscues that enabled Spring Valley to get back in the game and take the lead at 73-72.

A layup by Robertson made it 75-72. Schreck’s foul shot cut it to 75-73 but Robertson had a layup and it was 77-73.

Schreck’s layup with 20 seconds left cut the deficit back to 2 but Robertson was fouled with 14 seconds to go and he made both shots for a 79-75 lead.

The T-Wolves were 18-of-20 from the foul line including 8-of-8 in the fourth quarter with Robertson going 6-of-6 as he scored 18 of his points.

“We had a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and we gave it away. Spring Valley is a very good team, but we gave that one away,” said coach Barnes. “It’s frustrating but this is only our fourth game and we still have a lot of room to improve,” said coach Barnes. “We had four guys in double figures again. We just have to get better defensively and do a better job protecting the ball. It’ll come.”

Ironton plays at South Point on Thursday and Fairland on Saturday before returning home to play Chesapeake on Monday in three pivotal Ohio Valley Conference games.

Spring Valley    21 9 15 34 = 79

Ironton             18 18 15 24 = 76

SPRING VALLEY (6-0): Keyan Grayson 4 0 4-4 12, Clay Robertson 9 3 12-14 39, Jalyn Abercrombie 2 0 0-0 4, Colton Caldwell 1 0 0-0 2, Mason Williamson 0 0 0-0 0, BrockBiggs 0 0 0-0 0, Harrison Riggs 10 – 2-2 22, Brae Booth 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 29-50 18-20 79. 3-pt goals: 3-7. Rebounds: 2-O 19-D = 21. Assists: 5. Steals: 10. Blocks: 4. Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Abercrombie (4th 1:04).

IRONTON (2-2): Ashton Layne 3 0 0-1 6, Bryce Markins 0 5 0-0 15, Judah Barnes 1 2 2-2 10, Tyler Roach 1 0 2-2 4, Markel Cotton 5 3 0-0 19, Maddix Markel 0 0 0-0 0, Braden Schrecck 6 0 9-13 21. Totals: 26-54 13-18 75. 3-pt goals: 10-27. Rebounds: 13-O 17-D = 30 (Schreck 9, Cotton 7, Layne 5). Assists: 16 (Schreck 7, Barnes 3). Steals: 8 (Barnes 4). Blocks: 1 (Layne). Turnovers: 16. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: None.