Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

On Dec. 21 last year, Charlie Large went down with a season-ending knee injury against Columbus Independence.
Large returned to the court on Tuesday in Ironton’s season opener. The Fighting Tigers’ sophomore guard not only appeared to not miss a beat, he seemed to add a few notes.
Large and Ethan Wilson combined for 40 points as Ironton knocked off the Spring Valley Timberwolves 59-41.
Large had a game-high 21 points along with 8 rebounds and 2 assists in his return. Wilson posted impressive numbers with 19 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.
“As of right now, (the knee) feels amazing. It feels like it never even happened. I feel like the brace is restricting me from doing what I can actually do, but I have to wear it for at least half the season,” said Large.
“Our first outing was all right. Ethan did amazing. Me, on the other hand, I was forcing up too many shots sometimes. But our team as a whole in the second half just did it a lot better.
Ironton led just 30-27 at the half but the defense held the T-Wolves to single digit scoring in the final three quarters.
Spring Valley (0-1) stayed close with its outside shooting including 4-of-9 from behind the arc in the first half.
Ironton coach Mark LaFon said tightening the defense helped cool off the T-Wolves who were just 13-of-43 for the game and 6-of-25 from 3-point range.
“Early on we were close, but we were just a hair late. Once we kind of settled in and got going back and forth, the kids got used to where the screens were coming from. I thought we were on their hands a little bit better,” said LaFon.

The lead changed hands five times in the first quarter with Ironton taking a 21-19 lead on a layup by Large.
Raphael Glover’s 14-footer at the 3:54 mark gave Ironton its biggest lead of the half at 26-20. A layup by Max Adkins got the T-Wolves witin 30-27 at the break.
“They hit like four jumpers in a row. You’re not going to keep hitting jumper after jumper. You’ve got to find something else. I called a timeout to basically tell them that,” said LaFon.
“The pace was where I liked it. They’re hitting shots, but you’ve got to do a little bit of something about it. At some point they will slow down if you get your hand near the shot.”
The T-Wolves’ Caleb Fowler hit a 3-pointer and a layup to start the second half for a 32-30 lead.
But Wilson buried a triple as Ironton took the lead for good and Ryan Payne made a foul shot, Joel Blankenship a layup and Glover a free throw and the lead was 37-33 at the end of the quarter.
Ironton turned on the jets in the fourth quarter by outscoring the T-Wolves 22-8.
“Everyone is going to be bad early in the season. But if you’re going to be reckless and not clean and still get a 18, 19-point victory, I’ll take it,” said LaFon.
Hunter Humphreys had 10 rebounds as Ironton held a commanding 50-22 advantage.
Fowler had 13 points and Tre Maynard 12 to lead Spring Valley.
Ironton plays Huntington St. Joe at 11:45 a.m. on Saturday at Fairland’s Big E Classic.
Spring Valley    19    8    6    8    =    41
Ironton       21    9    7    22    =    59
SPRING VALLEY (0-1): Tre Maynard 1 3 1-4 12, Casey Hinchman 1 0 1-2 3, Caleb Fowler 2 2 3-6 13, Jacob Bailey 2 1 0-0 7, Reece Stevens 0 0 0-4 0, Maxwell Adkins 1 0 2-2 4, Austin Wiles 0 0 0-0 0, C.J. Meredith 0 0 2-2 2, Sam Adkins 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-43 9-20 41. 3-point goals: 6-25. Rebounds: 8-O, 14-D = 22 (Maynard 6, Stevens 5, Fowler 4). Team/deadball rebounds: 2. Assists: 7 (Hinchman 5). Steals: 8 (Stevens 4, Hinchman 2). Turnovers: 13. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: Bailey (4th 5:40), Fowler (4th 1:44).
IRONTON (1-0): Ethan Wilson 4 3 2-5 19, Charlie Large 7 1 4-6 21, Jourdyn Barrow 0 0 0-1 0, Hunter Humphreys 1 0 0-1 2, Raphael Glover 3 0 3-4 9, Joel Blankenship 1 1 2-3 7, Trevor Hacker 0 0 0-0 0, Isaiah Dodgion 0 0 0-0 0, Ryan Payne 0 0 1-2 1, Trent Milleson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-50 12-22 59. 3-point goals: 5-11. Rebounds: 24-O, 26-D = 50 (Humphreys 10, Wilson 9, Large 8, Glover 6, Barrow 5).  Team/deadball rebounds: 5. Assists: 9 (Wilson 3, Large 2). Steals: 5 (Wilson 3). Turnovers: 15. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: Glover (4th 1:32). Jayvees: Ironton 43-36.