PROCTORVILLE – The plays down the stretch were big, but the plays earlier in the game may have been just as big.

Wednesday, January 03, 2001

PROCTORVILLE – The plays down the stretch were big, but the plays earlier in the game may have been just as big.

With Chris Haney and Josh Harmon scoring clutch points over the final 46 seconds, the Ironton Fighting Tigers beat the Fairland Dragons 52-48 Tuesday. Still much of the game’s outcome could be traced back to the end of the first quarter and the play in the third quarter.

In the first quarter, Ironton trailed 10-7 with 2:12 on the clock after Glen Chapman converted a conventional 3-point play.

Freshman Josh Sands, starting in place of leading scorer Isaac Hannon who remained out with an illness, hit a baseline jumper that started a 12-0 run to close the quarter.

Ironton forced four turnovers and Drew Mains and Harmon had two baskets each in the run, the final a layup by Mains with one second left after a steal by Haney to give the Fighting Tigers a 19-10 lead.

Fairland coach Joey Thacker said the first quarter run was the key factor that shifted the pendulum in Ironton’s favor.

"You can claw back every time. You’ve got to play from the time you tip it up. We weren’t ready to play at the start and they took it to us," Thacker said. "We did fight back, but but can’t keep doing that and hope to win."

The Fighting Tigers led by as much as 32-21 in the second quarter when Andrew Harvey drained a 3-pointer with 2:15 left in the half. Josh Dunfee answered with a 15-footer for Fairland, but Andy Brown got a put back layup with 1:10 left and Ironton held a 34-23 halftime lead.

Things went bad for Ironton in the third quarter. Center Tommy Lutz picked up his fourth foul and Mains his third early in the quarter, and moments later Harmon was whistled for his fourth foul. That forced Ironton coach Chris Barnes to play two freshmen and a sophomore most of the quarter.

The youth on the court produce seven turnovers and just four points. Fairland took advantage of the situation and outscored Ironton 11-4 to get within 38-34.

The Dragons (1-5) began to feed the ball inside to Chapman who scored eight points in the quarter including a layup with 5:12 left that gave Fairland a 42-40 lead. Harmon and Chapman exchanged baskets, but Haney’s 15-footer tied the game with 2:25 left and Sands drained a 3-pointer at the 1:10 mark to put Ironton up for good at 47-44.

K. C. Jones followed up a blocked shot to get Fairland within 47-46 with just under a minute to play.

Mains made the first of two foul shots with 47 seconds left, and Haney rebounded the second shot and scored to give Ironton a 50-46 lead.

Harmon missed two foul shots and then J. W. Jones made a layup to cut the deficit to a basket. Harmon was fouled again with five seconds left, but this time he swished both shots to seal the win.

"I rushed myself the first time," said Harmon. "I knew I had to clutch up. I didn’t do it the first time. Everyone played so hard, I didn’t want to let them down."

Barnes said clutch play was the key for the Fighting Tigers.

"Everyone we really stepped it up," said Barnes. "Drew made some big plays, Haney hit a big shot, and Harmon hit the two free throws. And you had Andrew Harvey come off the bench and hit a big three.

"Josh Sands played a great game. Without Hannon, he had to start and he stepped up his game. When we were in foul trouble, we had two freshmen and a sophomore in the game and they did a good job keeping the lead until we could get our starters back in."

Harmon led Ironton with 14 points and three steals. Lutz scored 12 points – all in the first half – and have five rebounds. Haney finished with 10 rebounds while Sands got nine points.

Dunfee led all scorers with 18 points and Chapman finished with 15 points. J. W. Jones had six rebounds while K. C. Jones had five.

Ironton 19 15 4 14 – 52

Fairland 10 13 11 14 – 48

IRONTON (5-2): Drew Mains 2-2 0-0 2-5 6, Josh Sands 4-12 1-3 0-0 9, Chris Haney 3-5 0-0 0-0 6, Josh Harmon 6-9 0-0 2-4 14, Tommy Lutz 6-6 0-0 0-0 12, Andy Brown 1-3 0-1 0-0 2, Andrew Harvey 1-2 1-1 0-0 3, Ben Murphy 0-2 0-0 0-0 0, Craig Lewis 0-0 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-41 (2-5) 4-11 52. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 8-17=25 (Haney 10, Lutz 5, Harmon 3). Assists: 11 (Sands 4, Mains 3, Harmon 2). Steals: 8 (Harmon 3, Sands 2). Turnovers: 20. FG% – 56.1. FT% – 36.4. 3pt% – 40.0.

FAIRLAND (1-5): Josh Dunfee 7-12 2-2 2-7 18, J. W. Jones 2-7 0-0 2-4 6, Drew Brooks 0-2 0-0 0-0 0, Glen Chapman 7-11 0-0 1-3 15, Chris Dinwiddie 0-1 0-1 0-1 0, Brad Taliaferro 1-4 0-0 0-0 2, Kyle Leadman 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, K. C. Jones 1-2 0-1 1-2 3, Darren Colburn 1-2 0-0 2-4 4. Totals: 19-41 (2-3) 8-21 48. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None. Assists: 12 (Dunfee 5,, Dinwiddie 2, K. C. Jones 2). Steals: 7 (Colburn 2, Dunfee 2). Turnovers: 19. FG% – 46.3. FT% – 38.1. 3pt% – 66.7.

Junior Varsity: Ironton 68, Fairland 17. Ironton: Andrew Harvey 13, Jeff Parnell 10, A. J. McKnight 9. Fairland; Jeremy Pritt, Aaron Riley, Ryan White 3 each.