Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

CHILLICOTHE — Spring is just around the corner, so the Ironton Fighting Tigers did a little window cleaning.

Ironton cleaned the glass as they outrebounded Chillicothe 41-16 including 19 offensive boards as the Fighting Tigers routed the Cavaliers 75-52 on Tuesday.

“I told the kids before the game there were a lot of keys to the game, but if I had to pick one thing the one thing I would pick is dominate the paint and they did go out and do that,” said Ironton coach Mark LaFon.

Trey Fletcher had 24 points and 7 rebounds — all on the offensive end — and Zac Carter had 21 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals as Ironton went to 17-2 with its 11th straight win.

Trevor White added 11 points and 6 rebounds and Aaron Stephens pulled down 6 boards.

“I was impressed with Aaron Stephens. He went to get them. They weren’t coming to him,” said LaFon.

“Trevor White is producing more. We’re asking more of him. Even when he has a bad game he has eight points and seven rebounds. He had a good night.”

Zach Johnson scored 14 points and Tommy Bolte 12 to lead Chillicothe (7-13).

Ironton opened the game with a 6-0 run but the Cavs rallied to tie the game at 10 on a 3-point play by Nolan Taylor.

But the Fighting Tigers ended the quarter with a 10-2 run including a short jumper by Carter just before the buzzer and it was 20-12.

A trifecta by Carter gave Ironton a 25-14 lead early in the quarter and back-to-back layups by Fletcher pushed the lead to 35-22.

But two steals by Zach Johnson went for layup and Chillicothe was down 35-27. A layup by Darrius Boykin off a pass from Trevor White enabled Ironton to lead 37-27 at the break.

“(Chillicothe has) been on the upside so I give them credit for what they did. Our kids had to battle through that grind,” said LaFon.

Ironton took over the battle for good midway through the third quarter after a steal and layup by Johnson made it 46-36.

The Fighting Tigers closed the quarter with a 12-4 run and it was 58-40.

The momentum continued to begin the fourth quarter when Fletcher followed up his own miss to ignite an 11-2 scoring spurt and it was 69-42.

Ironton led by as many as 27 when Carter hit both ends of a one-and-one with 3:06 to play for a 71-44 lead.

Ironton hosts Fairland on Friday in the regular season finale. There will be an awards ceremony not only for the senior members but also for Carter who became the school’s all-time leading scorer last Saturday.

Ironton 20 17 21 17 = 75

Chillicothe 12 15 13 12 = 52

IRONTON (17-2): Zac Carter 6 1 6-6 21, Josh Glover 2 0 0-0 4, Trevor White 4 0 3-4 11, Trey Fletcher 11 0 2-4 24, Aaron Stephens 3 0 0-0 6, Tristan Cox 0 1 0-0 3, Joe Bowling 0 0 0-0 0 Darrius Boykin 1 0 0-0 2, Jake Long 1 0 2-2 4, Jalen Schweickart 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 30-57 13-16 75. 3-point goals 2-8. Rebounds: 19 offense, 22 defense = 41 (Carter 9, Fletcher 7, White 6, Stephens 6). Team rebounds: 3. Assists: 14 (Carter 6 White 3). Steals: 6 (Carter 3, Cox 2). Turnovers: 15. Blocked shots: 4. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.

CHILLCOTHE (7-13): Adam Bixler 0 0 0-0 0, Tommy Bolte 3 2 0-0 12, Nolan Taylor 3 0 2-3 8, Nate Rosenbaure 1 0 0-0 2, Tim Beard 2 0 0-0 4, Zach Johnson 6 0 2-2 14, Eddy Wells 2 1 0-0 7, Quinton Davidson 0 0 0-0 0, D.J. Vinson 1 0 1-1 3, Matthew Benson 0 0 2-2 2. Totals: 21-49 7-8 52. 3-point goals: 3-15. Rebounds: 5 offense, 11 defense = 16 (Beard 4, Bolte 3). Team rebounds: 1. Assists: 7 (Johnson 5). Steals: 6 (Johnson 3). Turnovers: 16. Blocked shots: None. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.