The Ironton Fighting Tigers punched the time clock a little early.

After playing well early, Ironton struggled with its offense from the second quarter until the end of the game as the Fighting Tigers lost 61-40 to the Wheelersburg Pirates Tuesday.

“We played well for about a quarter and a half, then we just got away from doing the things we need to do,” Ironton coach Mark LaFon said.

Ironton (1-1) came out of the game strong by taking a 7-1 lead on a 3-pointer by Marc Carter and baskets by T.J. Keith and Tyler Shoemaker.

Wheelersburg (3-0) closed the gap to 12-10 on a 3-point play by Gary Salyers, but a layup by Shoemaker with 25 seconds left gave Ironton a 14-10 lead.

After hitting 6 of 12 shots from the field, Ironton went cold. Not only did the Fighting Tigers make just 1 of 9 from the field in the second quarter when they scored only 4 points and fell behind 22-18 at the half, they were 9 of 34 for 26 percent from the field the rest of the game.

“You’re not going to win many games like that when you shoot the way we did. And the thing is, they were good shots,” LaFon said.

The third quarter proved to be the turning point.

First, Seth Cowgill hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start the quarter and Wheelersburg found itself up 28-18.

The Pirates leading scorer Camden Miller had only 3 points in the first half, but scored 14 in the second half including 12 points in the third quarter as Wheelersburg opened up a 45-26 lead.

“You can’t leave (Miller) open and let him set his feet,” LaFon said. “We thought we were ready for Wheelersburg. They’re a good team. We just have to work and get better and get ready for Jackson.

Shoemaker led Ironton with 13 points and 5 rebounds. Alstan Carter had 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.

Miller finished with 17 points, Gary Salyers 14 and Cowgill 11 to lead the Pirates.

Wheelersburg10122316=61

Ironton144814=40

WHEELERSBURG (3-0):

Matt Jenkins 1 0 1-2 3, Seth Cowgill 1 3 0-0 11, Drew Spradlin 3 0 0-0 6, Gary Salyers 6 0 2-3 14, Camden Miller 5 2 1-4 17, Alex Prater 1 0 2-2 4, Dustin Cook 2 0 0-0 4, Matt Stegman 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 25-47

6-11

61. Fouls: 7. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 5-12. Rebounds: 8-19=27 (Salyers 6, Spradlin 5, Prater 5). Team rebounds: 7. Assists: 7 (Cowgill 3). Steals: 6 (Jenkins 2). Turnovers: 19.

IRONTON (1-1): Marc Carter 2 1 0-0 5, Alstan Carter 1 0 0-0 2, Tyler Shoemaker 5 1 2-3 13, T.J. Keith 3 0 0-0 6, Andy Colegrove 1 0 1-1 3, Chad Miller 2 0 3-4 7, Dustin Greene 1 0 0-0 2, Shannon Hensley 0 0 0-0 0. Zach Christensen 0 0 2-2 2, Drew Kuehne 0 0 0-0 0, Bub Johnson 0 0 0-0 0, Lukas Morris 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15-46

8-10

40. 3-point goals: 2-9. Fouls: 8. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 6-16=22 (A. Carter 7, Keith 6, Shoemaker 5). Team rebounds: 1. Assists: 5 (A. Carter 4). Steals: 12 (A. Carter 4, Miller 3, M. Carter 3). Turnovers: 15.

RESERVES: Ironton 30, Wheelersburg 28.