The Ironton Fighting Tigers kept their heads, and in turn they kept their lead.

After falling behind 9-2 to start the game, Ironton battled back and beat the Wheelersburg Pirates 52-50 Tuesday.

"They shot the ball well early, but we kept our composure and we kept the pressure on them," Ironton coach Roger Zornes said. "I knew they'd play aggressive and get after it.

"Two years ago they came in here and shot the ball unbelievable. They must like to shoot here. But we played hard and gave a good effort. We battled through a lot of adversity."

The Pirates (3-3) were 21 of 46 from the floor for 46 percent for the game. Seth Cowgill, Gary Salyers and Camden Miller were a combined 9 of 13 from the field the first half.

The adversity began before the game. Forward Joe Zornes was ill and uncertain whether he would play. During the game guard Brigham Waginger was injured in a collision but remained in the game. And leading scorer Dennis Gagai missed most of the second half when he lost a contact lens.

Gagai left early in the third quarter and did not return until 1:29 remained with Ironton clinging to a 47-44 lead.

Gagai sank two foul shots with 1:23 left to put the lead at 49-44.

Poor foul shooting in the fourth quarter nearly cost Ironton. The Fighting Tigers made only 7 of 13 attempts as Wheelersburg was forced to foul.

A 3-pointer by Seth Cowgill with 18 seconds left got Wheelersburg within 51-50. Gagai was fouled with 15 seconds left and hit the second of two shots for a 52-50 lead.

The teams traded turnovers and the Pirates had the ball out-of-bounds with one second left. But Nick Carrington's 3-point attempt from the corner sailed well over the rim as time expired.

"Dennis could only see out of one eye without his contact so he had to go get new ones," Zornes said.

The Fighting Tigers came back to lead 20-15 at the end of the first quarter and 31-26 at the half. A tip-in by Marcus Williams and two foul shots by Brigham Waginger with 4:19 left in the third quarter gave Ironton its biggest lead of the game at 39-28.

Waginger led Ironton (6-0) with 16 points and seven assists. Cliff Howard had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Cowgill had 17 points and Salyers 12 to pace the Pirates.

Wheelersburg1511717-50

Ironton20111011-52

WHEELERSBURG (3-3):

Nick Carrington 2-12 (1-5) 0-1 5, Tom Kaskey 2-3 (1-2) 2-3 7, Seth Cowgill 7-12 (2-4) 1-1 17, Gary Salyers 6-8

(0-1) 0-0 12, Camden Miller 2-6 (0-2) 0-0 4, Dustin Cook 1-2 (0-1) 0-0 2, Tyler Holsinger 0-1 (0-0) 0-1 0, Drew Spradlin 1-2 (1-1) 0-0 3. Totals: 21-46

(5-15)

3-6

50. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: Miller (4th 4:58).

Rebounds: 5-12=17 (Kaskey 4, Cowgill 3, Salyers 3). Team/deadball rebounds: 3. Assists: 6 (Carrington 2). Steals: 5 (Cowgill 2). Turnovers: 10.

IRONTON (6-0):

Dennis Gagai 2-8 (2-6) 3-4 9, Brigham Waginger 6-12 (0-2) 4-6 16, Joe Zornes 3-5 (0-1) 2-2 8, Cliff Howard 5-6 (0-0) 0-1 10, Brent McBride 1-2 (0-0) 0-1 2, Marcus Williams 2-7 (0-0) 3-6 7, Greg Linn 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Brian Wirzfeld 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 19-40

(12-20) 52. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 11-23= 34 (Howard 11, Gagai 7, Williams 6, Zornes 5). Team/deadball: 1. Assists: 12 (Waginger 7, Gagai 2). Steals: 2 (Zornes, Waginger). Turnovers: 13.