Coach Roger Zornes wants his Ironton defense to climb to another level. After the Fighting Tigers season-opening win Tuesday night, they may be ready to jump two rungs on the ladder.

The Fighting Tigers defense forced 38 turnovers including 24 steals as they breezed past the Fairland Dragons 89-31.

"About halfway through last year we stated to learn how to play defense they way I wanted," Zornes said. "This year I want us to take our defense to another level. We have the speed and quickness to up our pressure. Hopefully, we'll get better."

While the defense was doing its job, the offense played unselfish with 20 assists and 12 of 14 players scoring.

Dennis Gagai had 15 points and four steals for Ironton. Joe Zornes collected 10 points, five assists and four steals while Josh Sands scored 10 points, recorded six swipes and handed out five assists.

Derique Bacon added 11 points and six rebounds and Nick Collins grabbed six

rebounds to go with eight points.

Nolan Love scored 10 points and Jeremy Pritt six rebounds to lead the Dragons who are missing four starters from last season's team.

"We played well, but we know Fairland is awful young this year," coach Zornes said.

Ironton ran out to a 12-0 lead with Gagai and Brigham Waginger getting four each in the spurt. Fairland got on the scoreboard as Kendall Staggs made two free throws at the 3:23 mark.

The quarter ended with Ironton building a comfortable 27-6 lead.

The Dragons managed just six field goal attempts the first half, two in the second quarter. Fairland committed 24 of its turnovers before the break.

Despite backing off on its press, Ironton still outscored the Dragons 19-12 in the third quarter to take a 67-22 lead. Ironton closed the quarter with nine straight points.

In the fourth quarter, Shawon Miller led the backups with 10 points including a pair of 3-pointers and Greg Linn hit back-to-back baskets inside to set the final score.

Ironton shot 38 of 64 from the field 59.4 percent. Fairland managed only 25 shots and made 10 for 40 percent. The Fighting Tigers held a 30-14 rebound advantage with 18 coming on the offensive glass.

Fairland64129-31

Ironton27211922-89

FAIRLAND (0-1):

Kendall Staggs 2-3

(1-1)

3-4

8, Nolan Love 3-3 (2-2) 2-4 10, Matt Clark 1-3 (0-0) 0-0 2, Jeremy Pritt 2-4 (0-0) 0-2 4, Daniel Spears 1-7 (1-2) 1-2 4, Matt Burd 1-2 (0-0) 1-2 3, Kyle Wise 0-2 (0-1) 0-0 0, Michael Higgins 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, J.B. Smith 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Aaren Riley 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 10-25

(4-6)

7-14

31. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 6-8=14 (Pritt 6). Assists: 4 (Clark 2). Steals: 4 (Staggs 2). Turnovers: 38. Deadball/team rebounds: 5.

IRONTON (1-0):

Brigham Waginger 3-5 (0-1) 0-0 6, Dennis Gagai 7-13 (1-4) 0-1 15, Joe Zornes 4-8 (2-5) 0-0 10, Nick Collins 4-9 (0-0) 0-1 8, Derique Bacon 4-4 (0-0) 3-6 11, Josh Sands 4-7 (0-2) 2-2 10, Patrick Kouns 3-3 (0-0) 0-0 6, Marcus Williams 1-2 (0-0) 3-6 5, Brent McBride 0-2 (0-0) 0-0 0, Marcus Royal 1-2 (0-0) 0-0 2, Brian Wirzfeld 0-1 (0-0) 0-2 0, Tyler McDaniels 1-2 (0-0) 0-0 2, Greg Linn 2-2 (0-0) 0-0 4, Shawon Miller 4-4 (2-2) 0-0 10. Totals: 38-64

(5-15)

8-18

89. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 18-12=30 (Collins 6, Bacon 6, Williams 4). Deadball/team rebounds: 2. Assists: 20 (Zornes 5, Sands 4, McBride 4). Steals: 24 (Sands 6, Gagai 4, Zornes 4). Turnovers: 9.