Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

PROCTORVILLE — A couple of trips to the emergency room have left the Ironton Fighting Tigers in a state of emergency.

Ironton lost starting guard Joe Bowling to a broken hand last Monday when he fell in practice, and then point guard Phillip Kratzenberg was lost for the season when he injured his shoulder Saturday against Eastern Brown.

The loss of ballhandlers and scorers were key factors as Ironton struggled with 16 turnovers against Fairland.

The Dragons had no struggles with their offense as they shot the ball well in a 65-48 win over the Fighting Tigers Tuesday.

“With the way we turned the ball over, they would get some easy layups. We don’t have enough offense right now, but that doesn’t matter if we don’t turn stop turning the ball over,” said Ironton coach Mark LaFon.

Fairland (5-1) kept the pressure on and came up with 12 steals — 4 by Evan Maddox and 3 by Nathan Campbell.

Dragons’ coach Nathan Speed said the press is always part of their game plan, but they did a better job of execution this time.

“We did better job of finishing in transition. They are so big and strong, they can be dangerous if they get in a half-court game,” said Speed.

Fairland used 7 points by Maddox to start the game and then a layup by Tyler Campbell to take a 9-0 lead.

Desmond Young made two foul shots at the 3:58 mark to put Ironton on the scoreboard and it was 9-2.

A basket by Luke Phillips had the Fairland lead at 13-2. Richard Crockrel hit a trifecta, Nate Garred scored, Isaac Sherman made a layup and a foul shot by Lucas Campbell got Ironton back in the game at 15-10.

Thayer Flynn scored to give Fairland a 17-10 lead to start the second quarter, but Tristan Cox hit a 3-pointer and then scored thanks to a steal by Charles Scott and the Fighting Tigers were within 17-14.

Chance Short and Nathan Campbell hit 3-pointers and Tyler Campbell had a layup as the lead went to 25-14.

A 3-point play by Joe Matkins had Ironton down 44-31 in the third quarter, but Maddox hit back-to-back baskets and Jacob Warner scored ant it was 50-31.

“We make bad decisions at the worst time. We battled back to get into the game. We made runs. But we have to do a better job scoring and making good decisions,” said LaFon.

Cox then hit a 3-pointer and a 15-footer and Marques Davis added a basket before the end of the quarter to get Ironton within 52-38.

But the Dragons got a steal and layup by Maddox and two foul shots by Short to lead 60-38 and the outcome was virtually settled.

Maddox had a game-high 20 points for the Dragons. Chance Short had 13 points and 7 rebounds and Tyler Campbell added 11 points.

Cox had 17 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals. Desmond Young grabbed 14 rebounds.

Ironton 10 14 14 10 = 48

Fairland 15 25 12 13 = 65

IRONTON (0-3): Tristan Cox 4 3 0-0 17, Nate Garred 2 0 0-0 4, Richard Crockrel 1 1 0-0 5, Lucas Campbell 2 0 3-9 7, Desmond Young 0 0 5-6 5, Charles Scott 0 0 0-0 0, Marques Davis 1 0 00 2, Joe Matney 2 0 1-1 5, Isaac Sherman 1 0 1-2 3, Hunter Klaiber 0 0 -0 0. Totals: 17-52 10-18 48. 3-point goals: 4-13. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Campbell. Rebounds: 20-OR, 21-DR = 41 (Young 14, Cox 6, Sherman 5). Assists: 4. Steals: 8 (Cox 4). Turnovers: 16.

FAIRLAND (5-1): Chance Short 0 3 4-6 13, Jacob Warner 0 1 0-0 3, Luke Phillips 1 0 0-0 2, Nathan Campbell 2 1 2-5 9, Evan Maddox 6 2 2-2 20, Tyler Campbell 5 0 1-2 11, Thayer Flynn 1 0 0-0 2, Trent Wilcoxon 0 0 2-4 2, Robert Thompson 0 0 3-4 3. Totals: 22-58 14-23 65. 3-point goals: 7-20. Rebounds: 13-OR, 19-DR = 32 (N. Campbell 8, Short 7). Assists: 3. Steals: 12 (Maddox 4, N. Campbell 3). Turnovers: 10.