Roger Zornes is a no-nonsense coach. He doesn't like cutting up.

He doesn't like cutting down, either.

The Ironton Fighting Tigers defense cut off the Fairland Dragons penetration and as a result came away with a 52-42 win Saturday night.

"We didn't let them cut down the middle of the lane. We cut off their penetration," coach Zornes said. "The defense is carrying us right now."

Ironton (4-0) made 16 shots from point-blank range in shooting 20 of 48 from the field. Fairland managed just 37 shots and was 13 of 37 for 35 percent.

"We're trying to establish the inside game more. We've got to get comfortable shooting the ball. We need to try and square up more and shoot. They're just flipping it right now," Ironton coach Roger Zornes said.

"I'm not concerned with the shooting. That's going to come. I know we've got the guys who can shoot it."

Joe Zornes had 18 points and six rebounds to lead Ironton. Brigham Waginger scored 11 points, had five assists, and four steals.

Derique Bacon had 10 points and six rebounds,Josh Sands grabbed eight rebounds despite battling the flu, and Nick Collins had seven rebounds as Ironton held a 38-20 rebound advantage.

Chris Dinwiddie scored 16 points and had six rebounds for Fairland (3-2). Brad Taliaferro scored 12 points.

Ironton led 16-8 at the end of the first quarter, but Fairland came back to take an 18-17 lead on a 3-pointer by Dinwiddie with 2:41 left in the half.

Ironton then went on a 6-0 run to finish the half with Bacon scoring the final 4 points to make it 23-18.

A steal by Waginger and pass to Zornes for a layup started the second half. Fairland then scored 11 unanswered points to tie the game as Sam Huff made a layup with 4:03 on the clock.

The Fighting Tigers outscored the Dragons 6-2 the rest of the quarter and led 33-29 when Zornes followed up a missed shot with eight seconds left.

A layup by Collins and a 3-pointer by Zornes put Ironton up 38-29 to begin the fourth quarter. Fairland closed to within 42-35 on a layup by Staggs with 2:30 left. The Dragons were forced to foul and Ironton converted 12 of 16 from the line in the quarter to take the win.

In the reserve game, Ironton (4-0) won 76-31 as Brent McBride scored 16, Tyler McDaniels 12, and Dennis Gagai and Aaron Quinn 11 each. Adam Fuller had 9 for Fairland.

Fairland8101113--42

Ironton1671019--52

FAIRLAND (3-2):

Michael Hill 1-5 (0-2) 3-4 5, Kendall Staggs 3-7 (0-1) 0-0 6, Chris Dinwiddie 4-10 (1-5) 6-6 15, Brad Taliaferro 4-10 (2-3) 2-2 12, Jeremy Pritt 0 0 0-0 0, Sam Huff 2-5 (0-1) 0-0 4, Matt Clark 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Josh Moore 0-0 (0-0) 0-2 0, Adam Fuller 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 13-37

(3-11)

11-12

42. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Dinwiddie (0:15 4th). Rebounds: 2-15=17. Team/deadball rebounds: 3. Assists: 2. Steals: 6 (Staggs 3). Turnovers: 20.

IRONTON (4-0):

Josh Sands 2-9 (0-0) 0-2 4, Brigham Waginger 2-4 (0-0) 7-8 11, Joe Zornes 8-14 (1-4) 1-3 18, Nick Collins 3-8 (0-0) 0-0 6, Derique Bacon 4-7 (0-0) 2-4 10, Kevin Williams 0-2 (0-0) 0-0 0, Dennis Gagai 0-2 (0-0) 2-2 2, Patrick Kouns 1-1 (0-0) 1-2 3. Totals: 20-48

(1-4)

13-21

52. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 15-22=37 (Sands 8, Collins 7, Bacon 6, Zornes 6). Team/deadball rebounds: 1. Assists: 10 (Waginger 5, Collins 3). Steals: 7 (Waginger 4, Sands 2). Turnovers: 17.