Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

Like father, like daughter.
When Drew Stevens played for the Ohio University Southern Trailblazers, he generally shot from a different zip code.
In the generation of cell phones, 5-foot-7 Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers’ senior guard Haylee Stevens seems to like shooting from a different area code.
Stevens was dialing long distance again on senior night as she hit six 3-pointers and scored 18 points as the Lady Tigers beat the Lucasville Valley Lady Indians 63-41 on Thursday.
Stevens now has 66 baskets from behind the arc this season.
“She can shoot, can’t she?” said Ironton coach Doug Graham. “She had seven in a game earlier this year. She’s put in the time to do it. She’s put in hours and hours and hours. She’s put in the time to reap these benefits.”
When Valley began throwing a variety of defenses at Stevens to slow her shooting, her Ironton teammates picked up the slack as three others players scored in double figures and Lydia Hannan just missed with nine points but she did have 10 rebounds — nine on the offensive glass.
Samantha LaFon had 14 points and 13 rebounds — eight on offense — while Riley Schreck scored 11 along with three assists and two steals and Elli Williams had 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
Ironton (10-12) went on a 13-0 run to begin the game as Stevens hit three trifectas. A layup by Hannan helped make it 22-9 at the end of the quarter.
“We did have a great first quarter. We needed to give a better effort and my girls came out guns a-blazing. They threw different defenses at us and we responded to it.,” said Graham.
Stevens’ trey and a three-point play by Schreck began the second quarter and it was 28-9.
A foul shot by LaFon had the lead at 32-11 before Valley got within 33-18 at the half with a 5-1 run to close the half.
Kaity Howard’s two foul shots had Valley down 33-20 at the start of the second half.
But Hannan’s 3-pointer, an 18-footer by Williams and a steal and layup by Hannan made it 40-20.
Leading 52-32 after three quarters, LaFon had a layup off a pass from Schreck and then got a putback and it was 58-37.
Stevens’ 3-pointer made it 62-37 and fellow senior Sophie Caines sank a free throws that sent the starters to the sidelines.
Valley (9-13) was led by Karsyn Conaway with 14 points.
Ironton plays Northwest at 8 p.m. on Wednesday in the sectional tournament at Lucasville.
Lucasville 9 9 14 9 = 41
Ironton 22 11 19 11 = 63
LUCASVILLE VALLEY (9-13): Brooklyn Buckle 3 0 1-3 7, Bre Call 2 1 1-2 8, Natalie Buckle 1 0 0-0 2, Karsyn Conaway 1 4 0-0 14, Kaity Howard 1 0 3-4 5, Bailee Day 1 0 0-0 2, Chalee Hettinger 0 0 0-0 0, Nicole Gilliland 1 0 0-0 2, McKenzie Wright 0 0 0-0 0, Rylie Johnson 0 0 0-0 0, Kaitlyn Kinnard 0 0 0-0 0, Kaity McDunham 0 0 1-2 1, Haley Whitt 0 0 0-0 0, Emma Fitch 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15-42 6-11 41. 3-pt goals: 5-17. Assists: 3. Steals: 3. Turnovers: 14. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None.
IRONTON (10-12): Riley Schreck 2 1 4-4 11, Samantha LaFon 5 0 4-6 14, Lydia Hannan 2 1 3-4 9, Elli Williams 2 2 0-1 10, Haylee Stevens 0 6 0-0 18, Kameren Arden 0 0 0-0 0, Jada Rogers 0 0 0-0 0, Abigail Patterson 0 0 0-0 0, Sophie Caines 0 0 1-2 1, Shae Myers 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-54 11-17 63. 3-pt goals: 10-25. Rebounds: 24-O, 19-D = 43. (LaFon 13, Hannan 10, Williams 8). Team/deadball rebounds: 3. Assists: 11 (Williams 3, Hannan 3, Schreck 3). Steals: 6 (Schreck 2). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.