WHEELERSBURG – Too much Aaron Burleson.

Wednesday, January 30, 2002

WHEELERSBURG – Too much Aaron Burleson.

The Wright State University signee poured in 34 points including 25 the first half as the No. 1 ranked Wheelersburg Pirates beat the Ironton Fighting Tigers 78-50 Tuesday.

"We didn’t have an answer for Burleson. We just don’t have anyone who can match up with him. He’s one of the best players in the state and he proved that tonight," Ironton coach Chris Barnes said.

Ironton (8-7) played well early but hit a lull the second quarter and scored just four points.

The Pirates led 11-5 when Josh Sands hit a 3-pointer, Tommy Lutz made a layup off a nice pass from Drew Mains, Sands had another layup and Lutz scored with three minutes left in the first quarter as Ironton led 14-11.

Burleson’s three-point play and a layup by Yelley put the Pirates up 16-14. Mains connected on an 8-footer to tied the game, but Burleson made two straight layups as Wheelersburg took the lead for good at 20-16.

Sands hit a shot at the buzzer just inside the 3-point line and it was 20-18.

The Fighting Tigers made only 2 of 6 from the field and committed nine turnovers the second quarter as Wheelersburg built a 43-22 halftime lead. Burleson had 10 points in the quarter.

Ironton never got closer than 19 points the second half.

Sands had 16 points to lead Ironton. Bacon added 11 points and eight rebounds.

Besides Burleson, Elswick had 12 points, all on 3-pointers, and Ryan Hickman nine points while Nate Weaver pulled down seven rebounds.

Ironton 18 4 14 14 – 50

Wheelersburg 20 23 15 20 – 78

IRONTON (8-7): Aaron Quinn 1-5 (0-2) 0-0 2, Josh Sands 7-17 (2-5) 0-0 16, Andrew Harvey 0-2 (0-0) 0-0 0, Derique Bacon 2-3 (0-0) 7-9 11, Tommy Lutz 4-5 (0-0) 0-1 8, Drew Mains 2-6 (1-4) 2-4 7, Ben Murphy 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Andy Brown 1-2 (0-1) 0-0 0, Michael McGraw 0-3 (0-2) 0-0 0, Kevin Williams 1-1 (0-0) 0-0 2. Totals: 18-44 (3-14) 11-16 50. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: Lutz (5:19 4th). Rebounds: 10-9=19 (Bacon 8). Assists: 7 (Harvey 2, Mains 2, Sands 2). Steals: 11 (Bacon 5, Mains 3). Turnovers: 23. Deadball/team rebounds: 2. FG% – 40.9. FT% – 57.9. 3pt% – 21.4.

WHEELERSBURG (15-1): Dusty Winebrenner 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Jeremy Elswick 4-9 (4-7) 0-0 12, Bryan Yeller 1-5 (0-3) 1-2 3, Andrew Burleson 13-20 (1-5) 7-8 34, Nate Weaver 1-5 (0-0) 1-2 3, Seth Myers 2-3 (0-1) 0-0 4, Matt Weaver 1-3 (1-2) 0-0 3, Ryan Hickman 4-4 (0-0) 1-1 9, Brandon Conn 1-2 (0-0) 2-2 4, Jeff Apel 2-3 (0-0) 0-0 4, Chris Webb 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Scott Oppy 1-2 (0-0) 0-0 2. Totals: 30-55 (6-18) 12-15 78. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 13-18=31 (Burleson 8, N. Weaver 7). Assists: 9 (Elswick 3). Steals: 17 (Burleson 5, Yelley 3). Turnovers: 16. FG% – 54.6. FT% – 80.0. 3pt% – 33.3. Deadball/team rebounds: 1.

JUNIOR VARSITY: Ironton 49, Wheelersburg 42. Ironton: Kevin Williams 17, Chris Collins 12, Craig Lewis 9. Wheelersburg: Cory Chamberlin 15, Craig Webb 8.