WHEELERSBURG — This wasn’t a case of “You should have seen the one that got away.” It was more like “You should have seen the one we gave away.”
Ironton was cruising along with a 14-point lead and dominating the game only to implode with fouls and missed free throws in a 56-54 last-second loss to the Wheelersburg Pirates on Saturday.
The game was tied when Braylon Rucker hit a 5-foot runner with 6 seconds left. Ironton had no more timeouts and hurriedly got the ball to Braden Schreck but there wasn’t enough time to get off a final shot.
“Everything was good enough. Our defense was good enough. We had a chance to put the game away in the third quarter and all they scored on were free throws,” said Ironton coach Chris Barnes. “We outplayed them. We should have won.”
Wheelersburg was 10-of-12 from the line in the third quarter as they outscored Ironton 16-12. Ironton was just 2-of-9. For the game, Ironton was 13-of-23 at the line and Wheelersburg 13-of-18. From the field, Ironton was 19-of-53 and just 3-of-15 from the arc while Wheelersburg was 19-of-43 and 5-of-15 on 3-pointers.
“We missed our (free throws) and they made theirs. If we make free throws, we win. It’s that simple. We missed some shots around the rim. The guys are playing hard, but sometimes it’s like someone threw a hand grenade. I tell them to take your time and go up strong,” said Barnes.
Ironton came out firing on all cylinders as Markel Cotton got a putback, Shaun Terry got a steal and turned it into a layup and then Schreck buried back-to-back 3-pointers and it was 10-0 with 6 minutes left in the first quarter.
The Pirates ended the drought as Landon McGraw hit a short shot at the 4:34 mark and Devon Lattimore converted a 3-point play and it was 10-5.
But a layup and a trifecta by Schreck had Ironton up 15-6 and Terry’s layup just before the buzzer made it 19-11.
The scoring slowed in the second quarter as Ironton missed a lot of close range shots and the Pirates were guilty of turnovers.
Schreck converted another 3-point play to start the second quarter and open up a 22-11 lead. A layup by Bailey Thacker to end the half left Ironton up 28-18.
Ironton opened up a 38-24 lead on an 18-footer by Schreck only to have the Pirates come creeping back into the game. Rucker’s basket just before the buzzer had the Pirates down just 40-34.
The Fighting Tigers played a lot of the third quarter without Terry, Layne, Thacker and Cotton who were in foul trouble.
In the fourth quarter, Rucker tied the game at 44-all with a 3-pointer and 5:33 left in the game and he followed that with another trey as the Pirates took their first lead of the game at 47-44.
Schreck hit a 15-footer to get Ironton within 51-50 and then sank two foul shots for a 52-51 lead. Lattimore completed a 3-point play to give the Pirates the lead but Schreck sank two free throws to tie the game and set up Wilburn’s game-winning shots.
Schreck finished with a game-high 29 points to lead Ironton (11-6). Ashton Layne had 9 points and 8 rebounds.
Lattimore finished with 22 points and Rucker 15 for Wheelersburg (14-4)
Ironton 19 9 12 14 = 54
Wheelersburg 11 7 16 22 = 56
IRONTON (11-6): Shaun Terry 3 0 0-1 6, Braylon Sturgill 0 0 0-2 0, Bailey Thacker 2 0 1-2 5, Bryce Markins 0 0 0-0 0, Tyler Roach 0 0 1-2 1, Markel Cotton 2 0 0-2 4, Braden Schreck 7 3 6-7 29, Ashton Layne 2 0 5-7 9. Totals: 19-53 13-22 54. 3-pt goals: 3-15. Rebounds: O-15 D-14 = 29 (Layne 8, Thacker 6, Schreck 4, Cotton 4). Assists: 7 (Terry 4). Steals: 6 (Schreck 2). Blocks: 5 (Terry 2, Thacker 2). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: Terry (4th 4:03).
WHEELERSBURG (14-4): Braylon Rucker 4 2 1-4 15, Devon Lattimore 5 1 9-10 22, Xander Mowery 1 0 0-0 2, Logan Adkins 1 0 0-0 2, Hunter Bivens 0 0 0-0 0, Luke Swords 2 0 0-0 4, Kenyon Evans 0 0 2-2 2, Landon McGraw 2 1 2-4 9. Totals: 19-43 13-17 56. 3-pt goals: 5-15. Rebounds: O-8 D-21 + 29. Assists: 2. Steals: 4. Blocks: 1. Turnovers: 13. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: None.
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