Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

It seemed whatever style the Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers played this season, they did it better than their opponents.

The Lady Tigers played at a faster pace on Monday and came away with an 82-48 Ohio Valley Conference win over the Rock Hill Redwomen.

And by playing better than yet another opponent, the Lady Tigers ran their record to 22-0, the first-ever unbeaten regular season in the program’s history.

“At the beginning of the season, I knew we were going to be good, but you never really think about 22-0 until you get two, three, four games left,” said Ironton coach Doug Graham.

The fast pace put nine players in the scoring column including three in double figures.

Lexie Barrier led the offense with 25 points while Sydney Webb scored 16 points including four 3-point bombs. Alyssa Lewis added 12 points off the bench.

“We wanted to get up and down and the girls were stepping into their shot. They looked like they were professional shooters out there,” said Graham.

“They weren’t just making them, they were swishing them and draining them. So whenever were hitting like that, I’m going to let them go.”

Ironton (22-0, 14-0) made 29-of-61 field goal attempts for 48 percent and 17-of-19 from the foul line. The Lady Tigers were also 7-of-16 from behind the 3-point line with Webb going 4-of-8.

Rock Hill (14-8, 8-6) was led by Kaci Russell with 16 points while Jill Hairston and Anna Darby added eight points each. Sami Dillon had five rebounds with Hairston, Darby, Russell and Taylor Hall each pulling down four rebounds.

“Rock Hill played hard and they did some nice things. (Coach) Greg (Damron) has done a nice job with them this year,” said Graham.

Webb drained a trifecta to start the scoring and Ironton race to a 13-2 lead. Hall’s 10-footer made it 19-7 but D’Laynie Keith hit two foul shots and it was 21-7 at the end of the quarter.

Rock Hll got within 23-15 on a layup by Russell with 4:49 left in the half, but a layup by Lexie Wise triggered a 10-0 run with Barrier scoring six points in the spurt.

Barrier’s two foul shots with three seconds on the clock made it 35-17 at the break.

A triple by Cheyenne Scott put Ironton up 45-24. Webb buried a pair of treys and Lewis made a layup for a 53-28 cushion.

The Lady Tigers led 63-35 heading into the fourth quarter. Abbi Kline hit a 3-pointer to get Rock Hill within 65-38 but Webb and Barrier followed with triples of their own and it was 71-38 with six minutes left.

Both teams will now play on Saturday in the Division III sectional tournament. Rock Hill faces Eastern Brown at 6:15 p.m. at Lucasville Valley High School and Ironton plays at 1 p.m. against the Coal Grove-Portsmouth winner at Rock Hill High School.

 

Rock Hill 7 10 18 13 = 48

Ironton 21 14 28 19 = 82

ROCK HILL (14-8, 8-6): Jill Hairston 1 2 0-0 8, Taylor Hall 3 0 0-0 6, Anna Darby 2 0 4-4 8, Sami Dillon 2 0 0-0 4, Kaci Russell 5 1 3-3 16, Abbi Kline 0 2 0-0 6, Kyleigh Noel 0 0 0-0 0, Caitlyn Meadows 0 0 0-0 0, Madison Harper 0 0 0-0 0, Kelsey Oldham 0 0 0-0 0, Hannah Preston 0 0 0-0 0, Samantha Stamper 0 0 0-0 0, Courtney Sanders 0 0 0-0 0, Amber Ackison 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-53 7-7 48. 3-point goals: 5-21. Rebounds: 15-O, 20-D = 38 (Dillon 4, Hairston 4, Hall 4, Darby 4, Russell 4). Team rebounds: 10. Assists: 8 (Dillon 2, Hairston 2, Noel 2). Steals: 4 (Russell 2). Turnovers: 28. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.

IRONTON (22-0, 14-0): Jordan Hannan 3 0 0-0 6, Lexie Wise 1 0 2-2 4, Lexie Barrier 7 1 8-8 25, Sydney Webb 2 4 0-0 16, Cheyenne Scott 1 1 3-4 8, Alyssa Lewis 4 1 1-1 12, D’Laynie Keith 2 0 2-2 6, Zakia Lee 3 0 0-0 6, Kaylin Easterling 0 0 1-2 1, Haylee Stevens 0 0 0-0 0, Katie Boyer 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 29-61 17-19 82. 3-point goals: 7-16. Rebounds: 10-O, 18-D = 28 (Barrier 4, Webb 3, Lewis 3, Lee 3). Team rebounds: 3. Assists: 9 (Webb 3, Barrier 2). Steals: 16 (Barrier 6, Wise 3). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None.