Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

At some point in the second half, Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers’ coach Doug Graham must have contemplated calling the police and ask for an APB regarding his team’s offense.
Ironton went nearly a quarter and a half without a field goal in the second half and shot just 12-of-39 from the field — 30 percent — for the game including 3-of-15 from the arc.
To compound matters, Ironton had 20 turnovers and a mere seven offensive rebounds.

All those numbers added up to a the Circleville Lady Tigers 37-32 come-from-behind win in the Tackett’s Body Shop Shootout on Saturday.
Ironton is giving up an average of 38 points per game and forced Circleville into 21 turnovers and 15-of-49 shooting or 30.6 percent.
But it was the offense that failed Ironton in this matchup.
Ironton used a pair of trifectas by Sydney Webb to take a 10-4 lead and a layup by Alyssa Lewis made it 12-7. A steal and layup by Morgan Bircher got Circleville within 12-9 at the end of the quarter.
A put-back by Webb and a 13-footer by Arden opened up Ironton’s biggest lead of the half at 16-9 with 7:08 on the clock.
Shayna Hoop followed up a missed shot and Katie McIlroy hit a 3-pointer that had Circleville down 16-14, but Lexi Wise drove for a layup and added a foul shot with three seconds left in the half to put Ironton ahead 19-14.
In the third quarter, McIlroy hit two more 3-pointers to cut Ironton’s lead to 21-20, but Taiya Hamlet made a put-back and was fouled, missed the free throw and got the rebound and scored to give Ironton a 25-20 lead.
Little did Ironton know, but those were their last field goals until the final seconds of the game.
Jordin Blakeman made a layup and McIlroy hit another 3-pointer with just under two minutes left in the quarter to tie the game at 25.
Lewis made a free throw to end the third quarter and Wise made three foul shots to start the fourth quarter and it was 29-25.
A three-point play by Bre Kendrick made it 29-28 and a layup by Blakeman gave Circleville its first lead of the game at 30-29.
Blakeman followed that with another layup and a 3-pointer for a 35-29 lead. She scored her ninth straight point to cap a 12-0 run and it was 37-29.
Arden finally ended Ironton’s drought on a long 3-pointer with 18 seconds to play and it was 37-32.
Arden had nine points, six rebounds and four blocked shots for Ironton (15-5). Wise had eight points and six rebounds while Webb had eight points, five rebounds and seven steals.
Blakeman scored 13 points and McIlroy had 12 points on four 3-pointers to lead Circleville (13-7).
The loss snapped Ironton’s six-game winning streak. The Lady Fighting Tigers host South Point on Monday.
Circleville    9    5    11    12    =    37
Ironton       12    7    7    6    =    32
CIRCILEVILLE (13-7): Avery Delong 0 0 0-0 0, Malory Conner 0 0 0-0 0, Morgan Bircher 1 0 0-0 2, Jordin Blakeman 5 1 0-0 13, Katie McIlroy 0 4 0-0 12, Shayna Hoops 3 0 1-1 7, Bryce Delong 0 0 0-0 0, Tori Bircher 0 0 0-0 0, Bre Kendrick 1 0 1-1 3. Totals: 15-49 2-2 37. 3-point goals: 5-17. Rebounds: 12-O, 23-D = 35 (Blakeman 8, Hoops 6). Team/deadball rebounds: 7. Assists: 4. Steals: 10 (Blakeman 4). Turnovers: 21. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None.
IRONTON (15-5): Sydney Webb 1 2 0-0 8, Lexi Wise 2 0 4-8 8, Alyssa Lewis 1 0 1-2 3, Taiya Hamlet 2 0 0-1 4, Lexie Arden 3 1 0-0 9, Riley Schreck 0 0 0-0 0, Haylee Stevens 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12-39 5-11 32. 3-point goals: 3-15. Rebounds: 7-O, 18-D = 25 (Arden 6, Wise 6, Webb 5, Hamlet 4). Team/deadball rebounds: 4. Assists: 5 (Arden 2, Webb 2). Steals: 15 (Webb 7, Arden 4). Blocked shots 7 (Arden 4). Fouls: 8. Fouled out: None.