JACKSON — The Ironton Fighting Tigers called upon their Swat Team.
Bailey Thacker and Ashton Layne getting 5 blocked shots each and Judah Barnes getting a pair to spark a stellar team defensive effort as Ironton beat the Chesapeake Panthers 63-42 to win the Division 3 sectional title.
“How many blocks did Thacker and Layne have? It seemed like every time a shot went up, got a piece of it or blocked it. It was a great team effort,” said Ironton head coach Chris Barnes.
“The defensive intensity was unbelievable. I literally called a timeout in the fourth quarter because we were exhausted from playing so hard. They played as hard as they could for 32 minutes. That’s what we asked of them if you want to play in the Convo.”
Ironton will play North Adams at 8:15 p.m. on Sunday, March 3, in the Ohio University Convocation Center. North Adams beat Zane Trace 73-55.
The Fighting Tigers took a 4-0 lead to start the game and never trailed. Keden Perkins hit a 3-pointer to make it 4-3, but the Panthers would never get any closer.
Maddox Kazee hit a 3-pointer to get the Panthers within 12-7 but Braden Schreck made a layup and Shaun Terry hit a 15-footer as the lead grew to 16-11 at the end of the quarter.
Kazee hit a trey to make it 17-14, but Thacker sank a foul shot, Schreck sank 2 free throws and Terry followed with a 3-pointer and a layup and it was 25-14 for the biggest lead of the half.
Terry hit another trifecta and Jacob Skeens made a foul shot and Ironton led 28-19 at the half.
After Kazee hit a 3-pointer to make it 31-24 at the 3:59 mark of the third quarter, Ironton went on an 8-0 run to lead 39-24.
Schreck sank 4 free throws the lead was 44-30 at the end of the third quarter.
The Panthers managed to get within 44-32 to start the fourth quarter, but Markel Cotton scored, Thacker made a layup and Schreck had back-to-back layups and it was 57-39 with 2:55 to play.
Terry finished with a game-high 26 points including 16 in the first half. He also had 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Schreck had 17 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Thacker hauled down 12 rebounds and Layne had 6.
“What if I told you Shaun Terry had 26 points and — hold on — zero fouls? We need to keep him on the floor. Everyone played well. We sped them up a lot tonight and they never let them in a good set,” said Barnes.
“I’m just happy for these kids. We haven’t been to the Convo for awhile. I thanked Bailey before the game just for coming out this year. He is going to have surgery after the season. He hurt his knee in football season and he’s playing on one and a half legs.”
Kazee scored 18 points to lead the Panthers (16-6) who finished the season as Ohio Valley Conference champions.
Ironton 16 12 16 19 = 63
Chesapeake 11 8 11 12 = 42
IRONTON (17-7): Shaun Terry 8 2 4-6 26, Bailey Thacker 3 0 3-4 9, Judah Barnes 0 1 0-0 3, Braden Schreck 4 0 9-10 17, Ashton Layne 1 0 0-0 2, Braylon Sturgill 0 0 0-0 0, Bryce Markins 0 0 0-0 0, Tyler Roach 0 0 0-0 0, Markel Cotton 2 0 0-0 4, Maddix Markel 1 0 0-0 2, Noah Patterson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-55 16-20 63. 3-pt goals: 3-17. Rebounds: O-8 D-32 = 40 (Thacker 12, Schreck 8, Layne 6, Terry 6, Barnes 5). Assists: 14 (Terry 4, Schreck 3, Barnes 3). Steals: 2 (Terry, Schreck). Blocks: 12 (Thacker 5, Layne 5, Barnes 2). Turnovers: 7. Fouls 1223. Fouled out: None..
CHESAPEAKE (16-6): Ethan Kerns 0 0 0-0 0, Drew Plantz 0 0 0-0 0, Kaden Perkins 2 1 2-4 9, Dannie Maynard 1 0 0-2 2, Kaiden Harris 0 0 0-0 0, Philip Thacker 1 1 0-0 5, Maddox Kazee 4 2 4-4 18, Braxton Oldaker 1 0 0-0 2, Jon Cooper Barker 0 0 0-0 0, Jacob Skeens 2 0 2-4 6. Totals: 15-59 8-14 42. 3-ot goals: 4-20. Rebounds: O-12 D-8 = 20. Assists: 8. Steals: 5. Blocks: 3. Turnovers: 5Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None.
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