PORTSMOUTH - The Ironton Fighting Tigers won't be putting in for any more vacation time.

After a 10-day layoff, Ironton shook off the cobwebs to beat the Portsmouth Trojans 79-55 Thursday in a makeup date.

"We struggled with our offense, but I think the layoff effected that," Ironton coach Roger Zornes said. "But we played good defense. We got some points off our defense and that got us going. We played hard, but you could tell the layoff had an effect on us."

Josh Sands led Ironton with 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.

"I'm starting to get my (basketball) legs," Sands said. "Coming out of football, my legs just felt tired and wobbly. I'm feeling a lot better now."

Dennis Gagai had 15 points, five steals, and three assists as Ironton improved to 7-2. Joe Zornes scored 14 points while Nick Collins grabbed six rebounds and Marcus Williams and Derique Bacon had five rebounds each.

"The good thing about our team is we have four or five players who can shoot outside or post up, and they can all handle the ball," Zornes said.

Tyler Babcock scored 10 points and Tyler Clifford had nine rebounds to pace the Trojans (4-5). Derek Wales added nine points and five rebounds.

Four steals by Gagai and a couple of 3-pointers by Sands helped open up a 17-8 lead. Portsmouth closed the gap to 17-12 before a Patrick Kouns layup before the buzzer made it 19-12.

Ironton outscored Portsmouth 11-2 to start the second quarter and it was 30-14. Gagai hit a trifecta and Sands sank a pair of foul shots with 30 seconds left in the half and it was 43-24.

Portsmouth trailed 55-38 after three quarters, but Ironton mounted its biggest lead at 68-45 on a three-point play by Williams with 4:45 left.

The rest of the game became a foul shooting contest with Ironton scoring the final nine points, seven from the line.

The Fighting Tigers host South Point Saturday.

In the reserve game, Ironton won 42-27 as Brandon Walker scored 15 points, Michael Phillips 12 and Greg Linn nine. Rich Staggs and J.B. Smith got six each for the Trojans.

Ironton19241224-79

Portsmouth12121417-55

IRONTON (7-2):

Josh Sands 6-10 (2-5) 5-6 19, Brigham Waginger 3-7 (1-2) 0-2 7, Dennis Gagai 6-14 (3-9) 0-0 15, Joe Zornes 5-11 (0-2) 4-6 14, Derique Bacon 1-4 (0-0) 1-2 3, Nick Collins 1-3 (0-0) 0-0 2, Marcus Williams 3-3 (0-0) 2-5 8, Patrick Kouns 2-3 (0-0) 2-2 6, Marcus Royal 0-0 (0-0) 2-2 2, Brent McBride 0-0 (0-0) 2-2 2, Shawon Miller 0-0 (0-0) 1-2 1, Greg Linn 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Tyler McDaniels 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Michael Phillips 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Brian Wirzfeld 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 27-55

(6-18)

19-29

79. Fouls: 24. Fouled out: Waginger (3:50 4th). Rebounds: 6-27=33 (Sands 7, Collins 6, Bacon 5, Williams 5). Team/dead ball rebounds: 4. Assists: 10 (Gagai 3, Sands 3, Waginger 2). Steals: 13 (Gagai 5, Sands 3, Zornes 2). Turnovers: 10. FG% – 49.1. FT% – 65.5. 3pt% – 33.3.

PORTSMOUTH (4-5):

Justin Nelson 2-8 (0-3) 4-8 8, Tyler Clifford 2-6 (0-0) 0-0 4, Michael Purdy 3-10 (0-1) 0-0 6, Andrew Newman 2-5 (0-0) 3-3 7, Derek Wales 3-4 (0-0) 3-5 9, Justin Skaggs 0-3 (0-0) 2-2 2, Tyler Babcock 4-8 (1-2) 1-2 10, Aaron Smith 0-4 (0-2) 2-2 2, Nick Toppins 1-6 (1-5) 1-4 4, Jeff Pendleton 0-2 (0-0) 0-0 0, Michael Hickman 1-2 (0-0) 1-1 3. Totals: 18-58

(2-15)

17-27

55. Fouls: 24. Fouled out: Wales (4:45 4th). Rebounds: 8-25=33 (Clifford 9, Wales 5). Team/dead ball rebounds: 7. Assists: 5 (Nelson 2). Steals: 5 (Toppins 3). Turnovers: 19. FG% – 31. FT% – 63. 3pt% – 13.3.