Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

SOUTH POINT — Talk about your emotional rollercoaster.
The highs and lows came fast and often during Saturday’s Ironton at South Point Ohio Valley Conference game, but in the end, it was the Pointers who were throwing up their arms and enjoying the ride.
After watching a 16-point lead dissipate, the Pointers road the up-and-down ride to get a 68-63 win that also saw senior Austin Webb score the 1,000th point of his career.
“This was a good win for us. We fought through a lot adversity. Overall for the team, it’s a great win. We have (Austin) Webb back and as a team we started to jell,” said Pointers’ coach Travis Wise.

“It was great for our young kids like (Jordan) Ermalovich, (Xander) Dornon and (Malik) Pegram. They got to play in a tight situation and that’s a great learning experience for them.”
There were three lead changes early and at two ties, but South Point led for most of the first half.
The Pointers got a putback by Darryl Taylor just before the half that gave them a 24-18 lead and they went on a 7-0 run to begin the second half and it was 31-18.
Ironton was down 40-24 at the end of the quarter but began to chip away in the fourth quarter.
South Point made just 2-of-11 field goal attempts in the fourth quarter and converted only 4-of-10 free throws.
Ironton took advantage by making 8-of-13 shot including 3-of-8 from behind the arc. Landen Wilson hit a 10-footer to get Ironton within 47-46 before Webb made a foul shot with 21.4 seconds on the clock for his milestone point and a 48-46 lead.
But Trent Hacker was fouled with 39 seconds left and hit both shots to tie the game and force the overtime.
“We had a big lead and we were ready to blow it open. But give Ironton credit. They played hard and did what they had to do and got back in the game,” said Wise.
“We started missing free throws and they just kept chipping away. We need to fix our free throws and just move forward.”
Aaron Masters hit a 3-pointer to begin the overtime and Ironton had its first lead since Tayden Carpenter’s 3-pointer gave the Fighting Tigers a 3-2 lead two minutes into the game.
Nakyan Turner’s two foul shot with 45 seconds on the clock tie the game at 53 and add four more minutes to the game.
Pegram’s layup and two free throws by Turner put the Pointers up 57-53. Down 62-57, Wilson hit six straight foul shots as Ironton took a 63-62 lead with 52 seconds on the clock.
Mason Kazee hit an 18-footer to give the Pointers a 64-63 lead, Taylor got a layup and Webb sank two foul shots with one second left.
South Point (2-1, 1-1) was led by Turner with 17 points. Webb had 12 points, Kazee 11 and Taylor 10 points and 9 rebounds.
Wilson scored 20 points and Terrance West 13 points to lead Ironton (1-2, 1-2).
Ironton 10 8 6 24 5 10 = 63
South Point 14 10 16 8 5 15 = 68
IRONTON (1-2, 1-2): Landen Wilson 4 2 6-8 20, Trent Hacker 1 0 4-6 6, Caleb Hopper 2 0 1-4 5, Tayden Carpenter 2 1 1-4 8, Aaron Masters 1 2 0-0 8, Terrance West 3 2 1-2 13, Blake Porter 1 0 1-1 3, Will York 0 0 0-0 0, Braxton Pringle 0 0 0-0 0, Vance 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-53 14-25 63. 3-pt goals: 7-21. Rebounds: 12-O, 27-D = 39 (Hacker 13, West 6, Hopper 5, Wilson 5). Team/deadball rebounds: 2. Assists: 4 (Wilson 2). Steals: 4. Turnovers: 19. Fouls: 25. Fouled out: Hopper (OT 0:45, Masters 2OT 1:13, Hacker 2OT 0:45).
SOUTH POINT (2-1, 1-1): Nakyan Turner 6 0 5-10 17, Darryl Taylor 5 0 0-0 10, Austin Webb 3 1 3-9 12, Malik Pegram 3 0 1-2 7, Xander Dornon 3 0 0-0 6, Carmelo Sammons 0 0 0-0 0, Mason Kazee 3 0 1-2 7, Jordan Emalovich 2 0 1-2 5. Totals; 26-63 15-31 68. 3-pt goals: 1-13. Rebounds: 32 (Taylor 9, Webb 5). Assists: 13 (Webb 4). Steals: 15 (Turner 7, Webb 3). Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Turner (2OT 1:19).