Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

Take care of the ball and make shots. Those are two simple philosophies to say, but not to execute.

The young and inexperienced Ironton Fighting Tigers continued to struggle in both areas as they lost 75-50 to the unbeaten Peebles Indians Friday.

“It’s the same thing we’ve been saying. But the kids are still trying and working hard and we’ll keep working to get better and fix those areas,” said Ironton coach Mark LaFon.

Peebles (6-0) hit 28-of-54 shots for 52 percent led by Beau Justice with 30 points. Cody Ireton had 20 points and 9 rebounds.

Ironton (0-10) was led by Tristan Cox with 18 points and Nate Garred scored 10. Desmond Young grabbed 8 rebounds.

Peebles took a 10-4 lead to start the game before Cox hit two straight shots and it was 10-8 with 1:22 left in the first quarter.

But Justice hit a pair of 3-pointers around a triple by Cox as Peebles took a 20-11 lead at the end of the quarter.

A trifecta by Richard Crockrel to begin the second quarter had Ironton down 20-14, but a 3-point play by Justice and two foul shots by Eric Schmitz opened up a 28-16 lead with 3:52 left in the half.

Ironton cut the deficit to 35-23 on back-to-back baskets by Garred, but Zach Arrasmith banked in a 3-pointer just before the buzzer and it was 40-25 at the break.

The Indians connected on 13-of-27 shots in the second half and continued to pull away as Ironton made just 8-of-24 shots.

Peebles 20 20 18 17 = 75

Ironton 11 14 11 14 = 50

PEEBLES (7-0): Beau Justice 8 3 5-6 30, Zach Arrasmith 0 1 0-1 3, Eric Schmitz 2 0 2-2 6, Cody Ireton 8 1 1-1 20, Tyler Ryan 2 0 0- 4, Brady Johnson 0 0 2-4 2, Scout Kremin 3 0 1-2 7, Camro Gordley 0 0 0-0 0, Jacob Gross 0 0 0-0 0, Ryan Brown 0 0 2-4 2, Spencer Kelley 0 0 0-0 0, Tucker Schmitz 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 28-54 13-20 75. 3-point goals: 6-11. Rebounds: 11-OR, 22-DR = 33 (Ireton 9, Justice 7. Team/deadball rebounds: 8. Assists: 8 (Justice 3). Steals: 12 (Justice 4, Ireton 3). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: Johnson (4th 0:31).

IRONTON (0-10): Tristan Cox 5 2 2-2 18, Richard Crockrel 1 1 0-0 5, Marques Davis 0 0 3-5 3, Desmond Young 3 0 1-5 7, Isaac Sherman 1 0 0-0 2, Nate Garred 4 0 2-2 10, Joe Matkins 2 0 1-2 5, Lucas Campbell 0 0 0-0 0, Hunter Klaiber 0 0 0-0 0, Chad Garris 0 0 0-0 0, Charles Scott 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-47 9-16 50. 3-point goals: 3-10. Rebounds: 8-OR, 19-DR = 27 (Young 8, Matkins 4, Sherman 4). Team/deadball rebounds: 2. Assists: 10 (Davis 5, Cox 2, Campbell 2). Steals: 10 (Davis 4Young 2). Turnovers: 20. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: Young (4th 0:27).