Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

PORTSMOUTH — The Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers must have thought someone pulled the fire alarm. They spent the whole first half in fast-forward.
That fast pace created one of Ironton’s worst shooting performances, but they recovered in the second half and beat the Portsmouth Lady Trojans 49-36 in an Ohio Valley Conference game on Monday.
Ironton (2-0, 1-0) was 6-of-27 from the field in the first half including 1-of-13 in the second quarter. The Lady Tigers finished the game just 18-of-60 for 30 percent.
“It was one and done. The offense was very stagnant and not fun to watch,” said Ironton coach Doug Graham.
“At halftime I told them relax and calm down. You just played the worst half of basketball you could ever play and your tied. You only gave up 15 points. You’re fine. Offensively just move the ball a little bit more and we’ll get what we want and we did.”
Lexie Arden scored 18 points — 12 in the second half — to lead Ironton. She also had 5 steals.
Sydney Webb added 9 points, 4 assists and 4 steals. Lexi Wise got 8 points and 9 rebounds while Lydia Hannan grabbed 7 rebounds.
Portsmouth (0-2, 0-1) was led by Semajah Parker with 15 points and 15 rebounds.
Hannah Hughes had 10 points for the Lady Trojans who were guilty of 32 turnovers.
The Lady Trojans held a 51-35 rebound advantage with 16 rebounds coming on balls knocked out of bounds by Ironton after a missed shot.
“They hurt us on the boards in the first half, but in the second half we did a much better job battling inside. I think they’re learning how to play physical and get after it,” said Graham.
Ironton was up 11-4 at the end of the first quarter before Hughes made a layup with 15 seconds on the clock and it was 11-6.
Webb drained a trifecta with 4:14 on the clock to put Ironton up 15-11 for Ironton’s only field goal of the second quarter. Parker and Mya Williams scored to close the half and the game was tied 15-15 at the break.
Webb had 3 steals and 3 assists as Ironton came out the second half and forced 13 turnovers. Arden scored 12 points in the quarter as the Lady Tigers began the half with 18 unanswered points.
A baseline shot by Webb gave Ironton its biggest lead at 38-17 with 7:37 to play. Graham began to empty his bench early in the quarter.
On Thursday, Ironton visits Fairland and Portsmouth goes to Coal Grove in OVC games.
Ironton       11    4    21    13    =    49
Portsmouth    6    9    2    19    =    36
IRONTON (2-0, 1-0): Sydney Webb 2 1 2-2 9, Lexi Wise 1 0 6-12 8, Taiya Hamlet 1 0 2-3 4, Alyssa Lewis 3 0 0-0 6, Lexie Arden 9 0 0-0 18, Lydia Hannan 0 0 0-0 0, Katie Boyer 0 0 0-2 0, Halee Stevens 0 0 0-0 0, Riley Schreck 0 0 0-0 0, Elli Williams 0 0 0-0 0, Sophie Caines 1 0 2-2 4, Faith Hughes 0 0 0-0 0, Reece Stager 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-60 12-19 49. 3-point goals: 1-17. Rebounds: 16-O, 19-D = 35 (Wise 9, Hannan 7). Team/deadball: 4. Assists: 9 (Webb 4). Steals: 16 (Arden 5, Webb 4). Turnovers: 15. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None.
PORTSMOUTH (0-2, 0-1): Kylisha Kearns 2 0 1-7 5, Hannah Hughes 2 2 0-1 10, Jaiden Rickett 0 0 1-2 1, Mya Williams 1 1 0-0 5, Semajah Parker 6 0 3-7 15, Destiny McKenzie 0 0 0-0 0, Layla Kegg 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-47 5-17 36. 3-point goals: 3-9. Rebounds: 21-O, 30-D = 51 (Parker 15, Williams 11). Team/deadball rebounds: 16. Assists: 4 (Kearns 2, Williams 2). Steals: 3. Turnovers: 32. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None.