CHILLICOTHE — Put a lid on it.

All night long, the Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers took shot after shot. And all night long the shots kept missing their target.

Shooting a season-worse 14-for-65 from the floor, Ironton fell 45-35 to the Chillicothe Lady Cavaliers in a game for first place in the Southeastern Ohio Athletic League South Division.

“We had open shots, we had shots inside, and we had good shots. We just couldn’t buy a basket,” said Ironton coach Doug Graham. “They really geared their defense to stop Jessica (Waddle), but she still got some good looks. It was just one of those nights.”

Ironton dominated the glass 45-26 including 21 offensive rebounds to just four for the Lady Cavaliers. But the Lady Tigers were unable to make their putback shots, thus adding to their shooting miseries that led to a 21.5 percent shooting night.

Ironton trailed just 8-6 with 2:50 left in the first quarter after Brea Tackett hit a baseline shot. Meghan Martin hit a 15-footer with five seconds on the clock that put Chillicothe up 14-8.

After shooting a dismal 4-for-17 in the first quarter, Ironton failed to make any of its 17 shots in the second quarter. Michelle Pancake made two foul shots with 4:13 left in the half for Ironton’s only points in the quarter and it was 18-10.

But Chillicothe went on an 8-0 run to end the half to lead 26-10.

Two foul shots by Martin gave Chillicothe its biggest lead at 32-12 in the third quarter.

Ironton got on track as Waddle hit a 19-footer, Mercedes Crockel had a layup, Janie Morris got a follow up shot to fall, and Waddle hit from the corner and it was 34-22.

Brittany Strawser’s corner shot with 1:07 on the clock gave the Lady Cavaliers a 36-22 lead after three quarters.

A layup by Tackett off a pass from Alex Taylor got Ironton within 40-30 with 2:47 to play.

But the shots failed to fall down the stretch and Megan Lee was 3-of-4 from the foul line over the final 22 seconds to seal the win for Chillicothe.

“We knew what they were going to do defensively and we worked against it, we just couldn’t get anything to fall,” said Graham. “If you had told me we would hold Megan Lee, (Jasmine) Vinson and Monique Lee to 29 points between them, I would have liked our chances.”

Martin led Chillicothe (9-3, 7-2) with 14 points. Vinson score 12 and Megan Lee 10.

Tackett scored 12 points and Waddle had 11 points and eight rebounds for Ironton (10-5, 6-4). Crockrel had seven rebounds while Pancake and Janie Morris six each.

Ironton821213=35

Chillicothe1412109=45

IRONTON (10-5, 6-4): Jessica Waddle 3 1 2-2 11, Mercedes Crockrel 1 0 0-0 2, Alex Taylor 2 0 0-0 4, Brea Tackett 6 0 0-0 12, Michelle Pancake 0 0 2-2 2, Janie Morris 1 0 0-0 2, Edi Taylor 0 0 0-0 0, Lorna Ceasar 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-65 4-4 35. 3-point goals: 1-11. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 21-20=41 (Waddle 8, A. Taylor 8, Crockrel 7, Pancake 6, Morris 6). Team rebounds: 4. Assists: 7 (A. Taylor 2). Steals: 2 (Waddle, A. Taylor). Turnovers: 13.

CHILLICOTHE (10-3, 7-2): Whitney Harewood 0 0 0-0 0, Megan Lee 2 1 3-4 10, Jasmine Vinson 6 0 0-0 12, Monique Lee 2 1 -0- 7, Meghan Martin 6 0 2-2 14, Brittany Strawser 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 19-46 5-6 45. 3-point goals: 2-4. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 4-21=25 (Mo. Lee 11, Vinson 8). Team rebounds: 1. Assists: 9 (Me. Lee 3, Harewood 3). Steals: 6 (Mo. Lee 3, Martin 2). Turnovers: 8.

RESERVES: Ironton 29, Chillicothe 18. Ironton leader: Lorna Ceasar 10 points. Chillicothe leader: Chelsea Preston 9.