It came down to free throws.

Sunday, December 23, 2001

It came down to free throws. One team made some, the other didn’t.

The Lewis County Lions had plenty of chances at the foul line – 31 in all – but could make only 14. Ironton shot 26 times and converted 16. In the end, it was the difference as the Fighting Tigers came away with a 59-57 overtime win Friday night.

In fact, Ironton made 6-of-10 from the line in the overtime period to escape with the win.

Lewis County was just 2-of-5 from the line in the extra period yet still had a chance to win. Ironton missed two free throws with four seconds left and Tyler Clark’s 30-foot 3-point attempt at the buzzer hit the front of the rim and bounced off to the left.

"It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win," Ironton coach Chris Barnes said. "Last year we played a game like this against Wayne and lost.

"It’s the Christmas break and we were kind of lethargic. You have to get Lewis County in a running game and not let them set up their offense. But we had our guards in foul trouble early and we couldn’t get the tempo of the game going the way we wanted."

Tommy Lutz had 14 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocked shots before fouling out with 1:40 left in overtime to lead Ironton, now 5-1. Andy Brown added 11 points and six rebounds while Andrew Harvey had 11 points, four assists, and four steals.

Lewis County (2-4) was led by Clark with 14 points. Drew Curtis scored 13 points and Nathan Bond had 12.

A layup by Harvey with 53 seconds left in regulation put Ironton up 48-46. Tommy Barbour’s follow up of a missed shot tied the game with 35 seconds to go and forced the overtime. Clark missed on a 3-point shot at the buzzer that could have won the game in regulation.

Josh Sands nailed a 3-pointer 16 seconds into the overtime period and Lutz made a layup as Ironton went ahead 53-48. Woody Underwood then hit a short baseline jumper and Curtis a 3-pointer to tie the game.

Drew Mains sank two foul shots and Ben Murphy one as Ironton went up by four with 40 seconds left. Bond’s layup cut the lead to 58-56. Mains and Curtis traded foul shots, but Ironton was fouled rebounding Curtis’ miss with four seconds left. However, Ironton missed both shots giving the Lions a final chance to tie or win the game.

But Clark’s missed desperation shot enabled Ironton to get the win. With the exception of an 81-30 win over Coal Grove, Ironton’s games have been settled by five points or less.

The Fighting Tigers play at Chesapeake next Friday.

Lewis Co. 11 13 9 15 9 – 57

Ironton 15 13 7 13 11 – 59

LEWIS COUNTY (2-4): Woody Underwood 1-2 (0-0) 1-2 3, Drew Curtis 3-9 (2-5) 3-5 13, Tyler Clark 6-14 (0-5) 3-9 14, Nathan Bond 4-14 (1-3) 3-5 12, Jason Weddington 1-5 (0-0) 0-0 2, Ashley Cooper 0-0 (0-0) 1-2 1, Joe Fitch 1-1 (0-0) 0-0 2, Brandon Bryant 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Tommy Barbour 3-6 (0-0) 2-6 8, Chris McCall 0-1 (0-0) 1-2 1. Totals: 20-52 (3-13) 14-31 57. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: Bond (0:04 OT). Rebounds: 11-13=24 (Weddington 7, Bond 5, Underwood 4). Assists: 6 (Curtis 2, Clark 2). Steals: 12 (Clark 6, Curtis 3, Bond 3). Turnovers: 18.

IRONTON (5-1): Josh Sands 2-6 (1-3) 1-2 6, Andrew Harvey 4-6 (1-2) 2-4 11, Andy Brown 3-6 (3-5) 2-3 11, Derique Bacon 3-4 (0-0) 3-3 9, Tommy Lutz 5-8 (0-0) 4-5 14, Drew Mains 1-4 (0-1) 3-4 5, Craig Lewis 1-1 (0-0) 0-1 2, Nick Collins 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Aaron Quinn 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Ben Murphy 0-0 (0-0) 1-4 1, Matt White 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 19-36 (5-11) 16-26 59. Fouls: 28. Fouled out: Bacon (0:31 4th), Lutz (1:40 OT). Rebounds: 7-27=34 (Lutz 10, Brown 6, Bacon 5. Assists: 12 (Mains 4, Harvey 4). Steals: 7 (Harvey 4). Turnovers: 25.

JUNIOR VARSITY: Ironton 43, Lewis County 33. Ironton: Nick Collins 12 points, Matt White 8. Lewis County: Bo Markins 14.