By JIM WALKER

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

PEDRO — Ironton coach Chris Barnes wanted his team to finish what it started.

They did.

Barnes praised the Fighting Tigers after 72-46 Ohio Valley Conference win over the Rock Hill Redmen on Friday

“That was our best defensive effort from start to finish. It was probably our best game from start to finish. Before the game we wrote on the board to start and don’t stop until the final horn. That was our best effort and focus,” said Barnes. “Rock Hill has been playing well. This is a tough place to play.”

Ironton (5-3, 4-1) pressured the Rock Hill shooters as the Redmen were 18 of 50 from the field for 36 percent and only 4 of 18 from behind the arc for 22 percent.

Bryce Markins came out with the hot hand in the first quarter as he made four 3-pointers. His third trifecta gave Ironton a 16-6 lead.

But Rock Hill (4-7, 1-5) climbed back into the game after Markins’ fourth triple made it 21-13. Rylan Barker hit a 3-pointer and Stephen Ison had a layup and it was 21-18.

Braden Schreck scored to give Ironton a 23-18 lead but Ison’s layup with 6 seconds left cut the spread to 23-20.

“We gave up a lot of points in the first quarter, but I like our points. We wanted to get them running and we did that. We did a

good job getting out on their shooters for the most part.

Ironton held Rock Hill to just 4 points in the second quarter. Yaden Bailey’s two free throws had Rock Hill down 31-22 but Markel Cotton had a putback, Schreck converted a 3-point play and Ashton Layne made a layup and two free throws for a 40-22 lead.

Kelan Davidson’s 10-footer to Rock Hill to within 40-24 at the half.

The Fighting Tigers opened up their biggest lead at 47-28 at that point in the game after a putback by Schreck and two free throws by Cotton with 1:03 left in the quarter.

“Offensively, we were a little sloppy. But we should have made layups and we would have pulled away in the third quarter,” said Barnes.

Layups by Braydon Sturgill and Schreck pushed the lead to 62-34 with more than four minutes left and Barnes emptied his bench.

Markins led Ironton with a game-high 18 points. Layne had 14 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks while Schreck finished with 14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

Davidson scored 12 points to pace a balanced Rock Hill offense.

Ironton  23 17 9 23 = 72

Rock Hill 20 4 7 15 = 46

IRONTON (5-3, 4-1): Bryce Markins 0 5 3-3 18, Ashton Layne 4 0 8-10 14, Braden Schreck 6 0 2-4 14, Markel Cotton 2 1 2-2 9, Judah Barnes 0 1 0-0 3, Carson Freeman 0 0 0-2 0, Maddix Markel 1 0 0-2 2, Braylon Sturgill 2 0 1-2 5, Brycen Mullins 1 1 0-0 5, Brayden Bake 0 0 0-0 0, Kayden Edwards 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-52 16-25 72. 3-pt goals: 8-21. Rebounds: 14-O 17-D = 31 (Cotton 8, Markel 7, Schreck 5, Layne 4). Assists: 17 (Schreck 4, Sturgill 3, Barnes 3). Steals: 6 (Markins 2). Blocks: 7 (Cotton 3, Markel 2, Layne 2). Turnovers: 9. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.

ROCK HILL (4-7, 1-5): Izaak Cox 3 0 1-1 7, Rylan Barker 0 2 0-0 6, Mayson Black 0 0 0-0 0, Carson Medinger 0 0 0-0 0, Stephen Ison 2 1 0-0 7, Kelan Davidson 5 0 2-3 12, Drew Schug 3 0 0-0 6, Yaden Bailey 1 1 3-3 8. Totals: 18-50 6-7 46. 3-pt goals: 4-18. Rebounds: 😯 17-D = 25. Assists: 7. Steals: 4. Blocks: 1. Turnovers: 15. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Cox (4th 5:26).