Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

Ironton coach Mark LaFon wasn’t expecting a lot from Raphael Glover. He did want more out of Ryan Bryant.
He got plenty from both.
Glover and Bryant combined for 23 points and 19 rebounds as the Ironton Fighting Tigers beat the Wheelersburg Pirates 57-50 on Tuesday.
Glover had 14 points and 5 rebounds while Bryant had 9 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
“I’m real proud of Raphael Glover. I don’t need big numbers. I need him to be a senior and he was in many parts of the game,” said LaFon.
“I’ll give Ryan Bryant this: he only took four perimeter moves the whole game. The rest of the game he was down in the paint and that’s why he had 14 rebounds. He caused them problems just with his presence. The more he does that the better we’re going to be. He could be one of the best in the district if he starts working at it. Tonight he did.”
Ethan Wilson added 10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals for Ironton (2-1). Charlie Large had 9 points and Kevin Adkins had 7 points and 4 assists off the bench.
“Honestly, we just put it all together. Coach talked to me, Charlie, Ethan and Ryan and told us we need to play our roles and that’s what we did and that’s how we won this game,” said Glover.
Tanner Holden led the Pirates (2-1) with 16 points. Kaden Coleman got 11 points and 11 rebounds and Cole Lowery came off the bench to score 14.
Ironton went on a 9-0 run to start the game before the Pirates got within 11-10 at the end of the quarter.
Coleman’s layup to begin the second quarter put the Pirates up and he followed with a 3-pointer.
Hunter Humphreys and Wilson scored to tie the game and a trifecta by Adkins with 3:09 left in the half gave Ironton the lead at 19-18 and it was 23-21 at the break.
A put-back by Coleman tied the game at 31 with 4:06 left in the half but Joel Blankenship drained a 3-pointer and a 3-point play by Large extended the lead to 37-33.
Adkins hit a 12-footer, Large made a layup off a pass from Bryant and Wilson’s layup just before the end of the half put Ironton ahead 44-35 at the end of the third quarter.
The Pirates got within 44-38 but Bryant and Glover got back-to-back baskets and it was 48-38.
A foul shot by Wilson and a layup by Large off a pass from Wilson upped Ironton’s lead to 55-44 with 2:38 to go.
“We did not play perfect. I don’t know if there is a game like that and we played far from it in a lot of categories. Some categories they played so well it shocked me how they battled at times, how they kept on persevering with the extra passes and finding guys,” said LaFon.
Ironton travels to Fairland on Friday.
Wheelersburg    10    11    14    15    =    50
Ironton       11    12    21    13    =    57
WHEELERSBURG (2-1): Bryson Keeney 0 0 0-0 0, Tanner Bivens 0 0 0-0 0, Keaton Newsome 2 0 0-0 4, Kaden Coleman 4 1 0-4 11, Tanner Holden 2 3 3-9 16, Cole Lowery 2 3 1-2 14, Trent Salyers 0 0 0-0 0, Mack Dyer 1 1 0-0 5, J.J. Stamper 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-71 4-15 50. 3-point goals: 8-31. Rebounds: 24-O 16-D = 40 (Coleman 11, Newsome 7). Team/deadball rebounds: 12. Assists: 2. Steals: 2 (Holden 2). Turnovers: 9. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None.
IRONTON (2-1): Ethan Wilson 4 0 3-6 10, Joel Blankenship 1 1 0-0 5, Charlie Large 4 0 1-1 9, Raphael Glover 4 0 6-6 14, Ryan Bryant 4 0 1-3 9, Jourdyn Barrow 0 0 0-0 0, Hunter Humphreys 1 0 0-0 2, Kyle Adkins 1 1 2-2 7. Totals: 21-42 13-18 57. 3-point goals: 2-10. Rebounds: 6-O, 33-D = 39 (Bryant 14, Wilson 6, Glover 5). Assists: 9 (Wilson 4, Adkins 4). Steals: 4 (Wilson 3). Turnovers: 20. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.