IRONTON — Ironton coach Chris Barnes might want his players to be a little more like Leo Durocher.
Who?
Durocher was a Hall of Fame manager in the major leagues who won more than 2,000 games as well as a World Series. Durocher did anything he could to win and coined the phrase, “Nice guys finish last.”
After the Ironton Fighting Tigers beat the Rock Hill Redmen 67-48 on Friday in an Ohio Valley Conference game, Barnes said his team needs to have some of Durocher’s mentality.
“We’ve just got to get that killer instinct. Let’s finish this and get it over with,” said Ironton coach Chris Barnes. “We had a chance to put them away three times and it should have been one.”
Ironton (11-5, 7-3) extended its lead in the game to 14, 13 and 14 again only to see Rock Hill battle back to trail by single digits.
“We didn’t have too many turnovers, but they came at just the wrong time,” said Barnes. “Overall, it’s a win but we still have to play better.”
Ironton took a 5-0 lead to start the game but Blake Porter hit a pair of 3-pointers and a basket to give the Redmen an 8-5 lead.
Braden Schreck had a layup to tie the game at 14 and then a steal by Shaun Terry led to a basket by Schreck and Ironton led 16-14 at the end of the first quarter.
Schreck had a couple of layups and a 3-pointer, Terry a cutback and Bryce Markins knocked down a 3-pointer to finish off a 16-0 run and a 28-14 lead.
Two baskets by Izaak Cox and only by Kelan Davidson gut Rock Hill within 28-20 only to have Bailey Thacker make a free throw, Ashton Layne a layup as well as Scheck and it was 33-20.
Rylan Barker’s 3-pointer cut the deficit to 33-23 but Layne’s layup off a pass from Thacker made it 35-23 at the half.
Ironton was up 41-28 after a layup by Terry, but Cox had a layup and Porter a 3-pointer and 17-footer and they cut into the Fighting Tigers’ lead and made it 41-35 with 2:55 left in the third quarter.
Markins hit a trey and Schreck scored just before the buzzer and it was 46-35.
Two free throws by Davidson made it 48-39 but Layne’s layup and Thacker’s 3-pointer opened up a 55-41 lead. Ironton led 58-48 and scored the final 9 points of the game.
Schreck led Ironton with a game-high 19 points. Thacker had 15 points and 6 rebounds, Terry 14 points, 4 assists and 5 steals, and Layne 11 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals.
Porter scored 17 to lead the Redmen (5-14, 1-10). Davidson had 12 points and Cox 10.
Rock Hill 14 9 12 13 = 48
Ironton 16 19 11 21 = 67
ROCK HILL (5-14, 1-10): Dylan Griffith 0 0 2-2 2, Braxton Harper 0 0 0-0 0, Levi Jenkins 0 0 0-0 0, Izaak Cox 5 0 0-0 10, Rylan Barker 1 1 0-0 5, Kelan Davidson 2 2 2-2 12, Blake Porter 4 3 0-0 17, Aaron Workman 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 19-40 4-4 48. 3-pt goals: 6-18. Rebounds: O-3, D-14 = 17. Assists: 10. Steals: 3. Turnovers: 21. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.
IRONTON (12-5, 7-3): Shaun Terry 4 1 3-4 14, Braylon Sturgill 0 0 0-0 0, Bailey Thacker 4 1 4-6 15, Bryce Markins 1 2 0-0 8, Markel Cotton 0 0 0-0 0, Braden Schreck 7 1 2-5 19, Ashton Layne 5 0 1-1 11. Totals: 26-53 10-16 67. 3-pt goals: 5-14. Rebounds: O-12 17-D = 29 (Layne 10, Thacker 6, Terry 5, Schreck 4). Assists: 11 (Terry 4, Layne 3, Schreck 2). Steals: 13 Terry 5, Layne 4). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.
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