By JIM WALKER

Tribune Sports Editor

 

There’s a lot of fight in these Fighting Tigers.

After a 12 losses in their first 13 games, the Ironton Lady Fighting have refused to quit. In fact, they opposite has been the case as they won their third straight by stunning the Cabell Midland Lady Knights 52-47 on Saturday in the Ironton Shootout.

“We’ve really grown as offensive players. The girls have really, really improved and I’m proud of the way they’ve played,” said Ironton coach Doug Graham.

Turning in a key performance was senior guard Emily Davis who had 14 points and 9 rebounds and scored some clutch points down the stretch.

Karlee McMackin scored 12 points and Alicia Murphy added 11 points and 6 rebounds for Ironton (5-12).

Emily Harden had 11 points to lead Cabell Midland (8-8).

Ironton used an attacking offense against the taller Lady Knights to draw fouls. The Lady Tigers were 20 of 30 from the line including Murphy who went 9 of 11 and Davis who went 6 of 7.

“We’re a decent foul shooting team. The key is capitalizing when you get to the free throw line,” said Graham.

Ironton had taken a 39-31 early in the fourth quarter on a pair of foul shots by Murphy.

Cabell Midland came back to tie the game at 42-42 on a 3-pointer by Lyndsey Newlin with 3:08 to play.

But Davis came up with a steal and fed Lexy Washington for a layup to put Ironton up for good.

Davis hit a put-back that made it 48-44 and her two free throws with 22 seconds to play made it 50-44.

Newlin hit another triple with six seconds left and it was 50-47. The Knights fouled Ariel Schweickart who sank two free throws to seal the win.

The game was tied 13-13 at the end of the first quarter. Ironton got a 12-footer from McMackin and a free throw by Schweickart to lead 23-20 at the half.

“In the second quarter we did a good job attacking the basket and drawing fouls,” said Graham.

Ironton’s biggest lead was 37-29 in the third quarter.

The Lady Tigers host Wheelersburg on Monday, Feb. 6.

Midland 13 7 11 16 = 47

Ironton 13 10 14 15 = 52

CABELL MIDLAND (8-8): Stephanie Bias 0 0 0-0 0, Emily Pitkin 0 0 0-0 0, Alexandria Ellis 1 0 0-0 2, Taylor Carter 2 0 1-3 5, Emily Harden 5 0 1-5 11, Emily Harbour 4 0 0-4 8, Sierra Jordan 4 0 1-2 9, Lyndsey Newlin 1 2 0-0 8, Kendall McNeely 0 0 4-4 4. Totals: 19-54 7-18 47. 3-point goals: 2-9. Rebounds: 8-23=31. Turnovers: 19. Fouls: 23. Fouled out: None.

IRONTON (5-12): Emily Davis 4 0 6-7 14, Ariel Schweickart 1 0 5-8 7, Karlee McMackin 6 0 0-1 12, Alicia Murphy 1 0 9-11 11, Lexy Washington 3 0 0-1 6, Taylor Hannon 1 0 0-2 2, Jordan Leach 0 0 0-0 0, Saige Fields 0 0 0-0 0, Macy Wise 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-49 20-30 52. 3-point goals: 0-2. Rebounds: 12-25=37 (Davis 9, Murphy 6, Schweickart 5). Team Rebounds: 9. Turnovers: 19. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.