If the Ironton Fighting Tigers were a boy band of pop rockers, they’d be known as &uot;Out-of-Sync.&uot;

Struggling on both ends of the floor with their timing in all facets of the game, Ironton finally pulled away in the second half and beat the Rock Hill Redmen 58-45 Tuesday in its season opener.

&uot;We were out of sync, especially in the first half,&uot;

coach Mark LaFon said in his Ironotn debut. &uot;We played a little better in the second half, but we still have a long, long way to go to be a good basketball team. The good thing is we can get better and we will.&uot;

With half of the team practicing just a week due to football season, Ironton was far from midseason form. Except senior Dennis Gagai who had a strong all-around performance to lead the win.

Gagai scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to go along with four assists and two steals. Teammate Brandon Walker scored 14 points and had seven rebounds and two steals.

&uot;Dennis played really well and he played with a lot of patience. He knows we have a lot of guys who aren’t ready to play just yet, but he understands what he has to do to help make us a better team,&uot; LaFon said.

Rock Hill, 0-2, struggled with its offense with the exception of senior guard K.C. Christian who had a game-high 27 points. The Redmen were only 17 of 53 from the field (32 percent) and a meager 2 of 19 the first quarter.

&uot;After all our scrimmages, the last thing I was concerned with was our shooting. But that will come. Our shot selection was better and our intensity was better,&uot; Redmen coach Marty Mills said.

&uot;If we hit a few jump shots and a few foul shot we could have been right there. If we do it the first half, we can dictate the tempo.&uot;

Gagai had seven points in the first quarter as Ironton took a 9-5 lead.

Christian was 4-of-7 from the line and scored six points as Rock Hill remained within 19-15 at the half.

Christian scored seven points in the third quarter but Gagai countered with seven points including a 3-pointer with 3:14 on the clock that put Ironton ahead 33-24.

Matt Matney and Christian scored back-to-back baskets to get the Redmen within 35-30, but Marc Carter drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer and it was 38-30.

Mark DePriest hit a layup to begin the fourth quarter for the Redmen, but Gagai and Walker had layups to open up a 42-32 lead with 5:15 to play.

Ironton then used a 7-0 run to lead 51-37 with 2:30 left as Michael Phillips sank two foul shots, Walker hit a layup and Gagai nailed a 3-pointer.

The Fighting Tigers outrebounded the Redmen 47-26 including 25-8 in the second half.

@agate:Rock Hill5101515=45

Ironton9101920=8

ROCK HILL (0-2): K.C. Christian 9-21 (2-6) 7-11 27, Nathan Davenport 0-4 (0-0) 0-0 00, Mark DePriest 1-4 (0-0) 0-1 2, Aaron Stumbo 2-4 (0-0) 0-0 4, Mike Ison 0-10 (0-7) 0-0 0, Jarrod Casey 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0,

Derek Robinson 0-1 (0-1) 0-0 0, Matt Matney 3-3 (0-0) 0-0 6, Aaron Butler 2-6 (0-1) 2-2 6. Totals: 17-53

(2-15)

9-15

45. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: Davenport (0:55 4t). Rebounds: 7-19=26 (Stumbo 8). Assists: 3. Steals: 8 (Christian 4, Ison 2). Turnovers: 17.

IRONTON (1-0):

Dennis Gagai 8-16 (3-6) 3-4 22, Marc Carter 2-5 (1-2) 0-0 5, Brandon Walker 6-16 (0-3) 2-3 14, T.J. Keith 0-3 (0-0) 1-2 1, Michael Phillips 2-4 (0-0) 3-4 7, Alstan Carter 0-3 (0-0) 2-2 2, Andy Colegrove 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Trevor Allen 1-3 (0-0) 1-1 3, Troy Allen 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Jared Murphy 1-4 (0-0) 0-0 2, J.J. Johnson 0-0 (0-0) 2-2 2. Totals: 20-56

(4-11)

14-18

58. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 17-30=47 (Gagai 11, Phillips 9, Walker 7, Keith 7). Assists: 7 (Gagai 4). Steals: 9 (Gagai 2, Walker 2). Turnovers: 16.

JUNIOR VARSITY: Ironton 57-9. Ironton scoring leaders: Zach Christensen 13, Alstan Carter 10, Drew Kuehne 8, Seth Kuehne 7.