By JIM WALKER

Tribune Sports Editor

 

Someone needs to find the skip in that CD and fix it quickly.

It sounded like a broken record for the Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers who lost a lead late and then lost the game as they fell 43-38 to the Lucasville Valley Lady Indians on Friday in the fourth annual Ironton Classic.

Poor shooting was again the Lady Tigers’ Achilles heel as they made just 13 of 48 field goal attempts for 27 percent and missed all five 3-point shots.

Ironton’s defense again clamped down on their opponent. In fact, the Lady Tigers’ defense limited Lucasville Valley to only 11 of 46 shooting from the field for 24 percent.

The difference came at the foul line where Valley converted 19 of 23 attempts and Ironton made only 12 of 23 free throws.

Ariel Schweickart scored 11 points and had 7 rebounds for Ironton (1-6). Lexie Washington had 8 points and 6 rebounds while Alicia Murphy pulled down 8 rebounds and Karlee McMackin 7. The Lady Tigers out-rebounded Valley 40-34.

Lucasville Valley’s all-district guard Whitney Bear led all scorers with 18 points, but she was 8 of 11 at the line and made just 4 of 11 shots from the floor including 2 of 6 from the 3-point line.

Taylor Skaggs added 10 points while Bethany Conley grabbed 7 rebounds.

Ironton trailed 32-30 heading into the fourth quarter but went on a 7-0 run to lead 37-32 with 3:54 to play. However, the Lady Tigers didn’t score until Schweickart made the second of two foul shots with nine seconds left.

Bear made two foul shots and then hit a 3-pointer to tie the game with 2:18 left. Courtney Crabtree hit two free throws at the 1:09 mark as Valley took the lead for good at 39-37.

Ironton was just 2 of 10 from the field in the quarter.

The Lady Tigers led 5-2 early in the game before Valley rallied to go up 11-8 at the end of the quarter. The game was tied at 15 when Jordan Leach made a layup with 4:14 left in the half to give Ironton 17-15 lead that they held the rest of the half including 22-21 at the break.

A 10-footer by McMackin pushed Ironton’s lead to 28-22 at the 6:40 mark of the third quarter. But Valley went on an 8-0 run to end the quarter and take a 32-30 lead.

Ironton plays at Adena on Wednesday.

Lucasville 11 10 11 11 = 43

Ironton 8 14 8 8 = 38

LUCASVILLE VALLEY (7-1): Darby High 0 0 2-2 2, Courtney Crabtree 0 0 2-2 2, McKenzie Coriell 1 0 2-2 4, Whitney Bear 2 2 8-11 18, Bethany Conley 2 0 3-4 7, Taylor Skaggs 4 0 2-2 10, Nicole Mills 0 0 0-0 0, Katie Goins 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11-46 19-23 43. 3-point goals: 2-12. Rebounds: 13-21=34 (Conley 7, High 5, Skaggs 5, Bear 5). Team rebounds: 6. Assists: 4. Steals: 5. Turnovers: 15. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None.

IRONTON (1-6): Emily Davis 10 0-0 2, Ariel Schweickart 2 0 7-12 11, Karlee McMackin 2 0 2-4 6, Alicia Murphy 2 0 2-2 6, Lexie Washington 4 0 0-0 8, Taylor Hannon 0 0 0-0 0, Jordan Leach 2 0 0-3 4, Taitlyn Dutey 0 0 1-2 1, Saige Fields 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-48 12-23 38. 3-point goals: 0-5. Rebounds: 19-21=40 (Murphy 8, McMackin 7, Schweickart 7, Washington 6). Team rebounds: 3. Assists: 4 (McMackin 2). Steals: 4 (Davis 2). Turnovers: 16. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: Davis (4th 5:18).