Ironton just might want to change their name in basketball from Fighting Tigers to Attack Dogs.

The Fighting Tigers continued their relentless style of play on Saturday as they downed the Portsmouth Trojans 81-67 in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

“Portsmouth is a good team and they like to keep coming at you. But I like the way they play because that’s the way we play,” said Ironton coach Chris Barnes.

“We don’t want to stop attacking. Our offense is getting better, but our defense was the difference. We held them to nine points in the third quarter and that was the key.”

Leading the attack for Ironton was Ty Perkins who had a season-high 27 points to go with 12 rebounds, 6 blocked shots, 3 assists and 2 steals.

Freshman Braden Schreck scored a season-high 27 points, Matt Sheridan had 12 points and 7 assists while Ethan White added 8 points and 5 rebounds for Ironton (9-8, 7-4).

“Ty Perkins gave an all-state performance. He’s had three or four games in a row like that,” said Barnes. “Braden Schreck did a great job. He’s not playing like a freshman right now. But it was a great team effort.”

Portsmouth (8-9, 4-7) had three players in double figures as Kenny Sanderlin scored 17, DeAndre Berry 16 and Dariyonne Bryant 13 — all in the second half.

Sheridan hit a 3-pointer and Schreck scored as Ironton began the game with a quick 5-0 run.

The lead was 12-7 after a trifecta by Schreck but then Portsmouth went on a 13-0 run to take a 20-12 lead before Schreck’s triple halted the surge.

Perkins tied the game with two foul shots but Tyler Duncan’s 3-pointer gave the Trojans at 23-20 lead just before the buzzer.

Aaron Masters hit a 3-pointer for Ironton to tie the game at the start of second quarter and the see-saw battle was on.

Berry’s 3-pointer gave Portsmouth a 32-20 lead only to have Schreck’s outback send Ironton on top 34-32.

Duncan had two foul shots and Devan Lattimore’s basket put the Trojans up 38-36.

Lincoln Barnes scored off a feed from Sheridan and Ironton tied the game 38-all heading into the locker room.

White scored to begin the second half and Ironton was up 52-43 after a 19-footer by Sheridan.

White then scored three straight baskets as the lead grew to 58-45.

Layups by Sheridan and Barnes to close the quarter opened up a 62-47 spread.

But Portsmouth remained on their own attack as Carr made a layup and Bryant hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 62-52.

A 3-pointer by Duncan narrowed the gap to 67-60 but Perkins turned the attack the other direction with a steal and layup and then blocked a shot that led to a layup by Sheridan and the lead was 71-60.

Portsmouth  23  15    9  20  =  67

Ironton          20  18  24  19  =  81

PORTSMOUTH: (8-9, 4-7): Devon Lattimore 2 0 2-3 6, Dariyonne Bryant 3 2 1-2 13, Tyler Duncan 0 2 2-2 8, Kenny Sanderlin 4 0 9-15 17, Donovan Carr 2 1 0-0 7, Cooper Maxie 0 0 0-0 0, DeAndre Berry 3 2 4-5 16. Totals: 21-52 18-27 67. 3-pt goals: 7-21. Rebounds: 9-O, 16-D = 25. Assists: 8. Steals: 5. Blocks: 1. Turnovers: 9. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None.

IRONTON: (9-8, 7-4): Landen Wilson 0 0 0-0 0, Matt Sheridan 4 1 1-3 12, Aaron Masters 0 1 0-0 3, Braden Schreck 6 4 3-4 27, Ethan White 4 0 0-0 8, Blake Porter 0 0 0-0 0, Ty Perkins 9 1 6-7 27, Lincoln Barnes 2 0 0-0 4, Jato Vance 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 32-57 10-14 81. 3-pt goals: 7-15. Rebounds: 8-O, 21-D = 29 (Perkins 12, White 5). Assists: 14 (Sheridan 7, Perkins 3). Steals: 5 (Perkins 2). Blocks: 6 (Perkins 6). Turnovers: 7. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: None.