SOUTH POINT — A win is a win is a win.
Regardless of the way Ironton played, the Fighting Tigers were happy to come away with a win as they edged the South Point Pointers 53-47 on Thursday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.
“I don’t care if we win this by a half point. We’ve just got to grit this one out. They made it ugly. They did what they had to do. If we make our free throws we win by 10 or 12,” said Ironton coach Chris Barnes.
Ironton had its worst foul shooting performance of the young season with 16-of-27, well below their 75 percent shooting as a team this season.
But Barnes gave credit to the Pointers for their performance.
“We told them we need to come out fast. We got that eight or nine point lead. You get a 15-point lead on them and it’s like 30 points,” said Barnes.
“But they did a good job breaking our press and we did not do a good job of rotating. We’ll work on that tomorrow with the one short day we have to practice.”
South Point (3-5, 2-3) held a 41-40 lead going into the fourth quarter, but Ironton held the Pointers to just 3 field goals in the quarter. Ironton struggled at the foul line in the quarter by making only 4-of-12 foul shots.
Bryce Markins hit a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter and give Ironton the lead for good. Ashton Layne followed with a layup and it was 45-41.
Ethan Hunt made a layup with 2:30 left but Maddix Markel sank a free throw and made a layup and Markins sank 2 technical free throws and the lead was 50-43 with just 59 seconds left.
Ironton (3-2, 2-0) built a 14-7 lead early but Ethan Layne hit back-to-back 3-pointers and it was 14-13.
Braden Schreck then went 4-of-4 from the foul line over the final 1:24 of the quarter and the lead was 18-13.
Ethan Layne scored to tie the game at 2-all with 2:19 left in the half but Markins hit a 3-pointer and it was 26-23.
A putback by Brayden Hanshaw gave the Pointers a 27-26 lead with 36 seconds on the clock but Schreck hit a 10-footer with 8 seconds left and Ironton led 28-27 at the break.
Ashton Layne’s layup gave Ironton a 34-32 lead but Davon Lewis hit a 3-pointer and Landon Vance converted a 3-pointer play as South Point regained the lead at 38-34 with 3:41 on the clock. Hanshaw scored 3 points to make it 41-36 but Schreck had a layup and a short jumper to get Ironton within 41-40 at the end of the quarter.
“We didn’t have the energy level we normally have. It was a gut check and we won,” said Barnes. “South Point plays tough here.”
Schreck and Ashton Layne had 16 points and 7 rebounds each with Markins scoring 15 points to lead Ironton.
Ethan Layne and Hanshaw scored 12 points each for South Point and Ethan Hunt scored 11.
Ironton 18 10 12 13 = 53
South Point 13 14 14 6 = 47
IRONTON (3-2, 2-0): Ashton Layne 6 0 4-5 16, Carson Freeman 0 0 0-0 0, Bryce Markins 1 3 4-4 15, Judah Barnes 0 0 0-0 0, Tyler Roach 0 0 2-4 2, Markel Cotton 0 0 1-2 1, Maddix Markel 1 0 1-4 3, Braden Schreck 6 0 4-8 16. Totals: 17-36 16-27 53. 3-pt goals: 3-10. Rebounds: 3-O 16-D = 19 (Layne 7, Schreck 7). Assists: 10 (Cotten 5, Schreck 2). Steals: 3 (Markins, Schreck, Layne). Turnovers: 8. Blocks: 1 (Cotton). Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None.
SOUTH POINT (3-5, 2-3): Brayden Hanshaw 4 0 4-6 12, Ethan Layne 3 2 0-0 12, Austin Evans 0 0 0-0 0, Davon Lewis 2 1 0-0 7, Ethan Hunt 1 3 0-0 11, Landon Vance 2 0 1-1 5, Caesyn Pope 0 0 0-0 0, Kolton Layman-Spurlock 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-44 5-8 47. 3-pt goals: 6-18. Rebounds: 8-O 16-D = 24, Assists: 11. Steals: 2. Blocks 2. Turnovers: 8. Fouls: 24 Fouled out: None.
Comentarios