If this was a heavyweight title fight, the Ironton Fighting Tigers went the full 12 rounds.

Playing the all-star laden Cincinnati Harmony Hurricanes select team, Ironton battled for nearly four quarters before falling 69-54.

“I know we lost and there are no moral victories, but our kids competed for the entire game,” Ironton coach Mark LaFon said. “We were only down three points with five minutes to play. We had to foul at the end and they made some shots. It really wasn’t a 15-point game.”

Ironton (10-5) trailed by as many as 12 points early in the third quarter before a 3-pointer by Dennis Gagai two foul shots by Brandon Walker and a layup by Jared Murphy cut the deficit to 42-38 heading into the fourth quarter.

Harmony (11-2) was up 48-40 on a layup by William Royal, bt a 3-pointer by Walker and a layup by Troy Allen off a nice pass from Walker and it was 48-45 with 5:47 to play.

But three critical turnovers by Ironton helped Harmony go up 58-47.

With Ironton forced to foul, Harmony converted 10 of 17 to pull away.

The Fighting Tigers held the lead on five different occasions in the first quarter. Their last lead was 14-13 on a layup by Michaels Phillips with 6:45 left in the first half.

The Hurricanes were up 26-18 before Walker fed Troy Allen for a layup and it was 26-20 with just 15 seconds on the clock.

The Hurricanes went on an 8-2 run to begin the second half and go up 34-22. But Gagai began to heat up and scored 10 points to get Ironton back in the game.

Gagai finished with a game-high 25-points and had 11 rebounds. Alstan Carter and Walker grabbed six rebounds each.

Josh Miller and Terrance Tubbs scored 15 points each, Ethan Bradshaw 13 and William Kossangue 12.

Harmony’s only two losses were to the Harmony Elite team.

Harmony10161627=69

Ironton10101816=54

HARMONY (11-2): William Royal 4-7 0-0 1-4 9, Josh Miller 4-13 (0-3) 7-10 15, Terrance Tubbs 5-6 (0-0) 5-7 15, William Kossangue 5-8 1-3 (1-2) 12, Cassius Bell 0-3 (0-3) 0-0 0, Andrew Krauss 0-1 (0-1) 0-0 0, Ethan Bradshaw 4-8 (3-6) 2-4 13, Jerome Nelson 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Matt Powell 1-2 (1-1) 0-0 3, Robert Mercer 1-1 (0-0) 0-0 2. Totals: 24-48

(5-16)

16-27

69. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 8-20=28 (Royal 11, Kossangue 6, Tubbs 5). Team/deadball rebounds: 1. Assists: 7 (Miller 4). Steals: 9 (Miller 3, Tubbs 2). Turnovers: 16.

IRONTON (10-5): Dennis Gagai 8-19 (4-13) 5-6 25, Alstan Carter 1-3 (0-0) 0-0 2, Marc Carter 2-7 (0-0) 2-2 6, Brandon Walker 1-7 (1-3) 2-2 5, Michael Phillips 2-2 (0-0) 0-1 4, T.J. Keith 2-2 (0-0) 0-0 4, Trevor Allen 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Troy Allen 2-3 (0-1) 0-0 4, Jared Murphy 1-1 (0-0) 0-0 2, J.J. Johnson 1-3 (0-0) 0-0 0, Andy Colegrove 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 20-47

(5-17)

9-10

54. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 6-21=27 (Gagai 11, Walker 6, A. Carter 6). Team/deadball rebounds: 1. Assists: 9 (Walker 4, A. Carter 3, Phillips 2). Steals: 9 (Gagai

3, Johnson 3). Turnovers: 21.