PEDRO - His mom and dad might want him to take a different professional direction, but Brigham Waginger could probably make a living as a pick pocket.

Waginger kept picking the Rock Hill Redmen clean Friday night as he sparked the Ironton Fighting Tigers to a 68-33 win.

Waginger had seven steals to go with 20 points and two assists as Ironton improved to 2-0.

"Brigham has quick, active hands. But he's also very smart. He knows how to anticipate and he sees the floor very well," Ironton coach Roger Zornes said.

Josh Sands had a solid game with 13 points including three steals. Dennis Gagai finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Rickie McDonie had 11 points and four rebounds for the Redmen. K.C. Christian and Sean Mullins added eight points each.

Rock Hill was guilty of 36 turnovers and managed to make just 12 of 33 from floor shots.

"That was a tough opener for us," Redmen coach Marty Mills said. "Ironton may be the best team on our schedule. But I thought we played hard and I think this game will make us better."

Rock Hill took a 10-4 lead with 1:40 left in the first quarter on a layup by Christian. After Sands and Mullins traded baskets, Waginger got a layup, a steal and another layup and Ironton trailed just 12-10 despite hitting only 2 of their first 14 shots.

"We knew the shots would fall eventually, but our defense is what turned the game around. We created a lot of easy baskets off off our offense," Zornes said.

The Fighting Tigers defense forced 13 turnovers the second quarter and limited the Redmen to only three field goal attempts.

A 3-pointer by Waginger at the 4:11 mark gave Ironton a lead it would never relinquishes at 15-14.

Gagai hit a short jumper, then Waginger converted two straight steals into baskets. Sands got a steal and layup and Waginger hit a layup and a 3-pointer that completed a 16-0 blitz to end the half and put Ironton up 28-14.

Derique Bacon converted a 3-point play for a 35-17 lead, but Mullins layup changed the lead to 35-19.

Ironton then went on a 10-2 run to finish the quarter and the lead had mushroomed to 45-21.

Following a 3-pointer by Gagai and a layup by Sands, Ironton's lead was 65-29 and the backup to finish the game.

In the reserve game, Ironton (2-0) won 49-18 as Michael Phillips scored 12 points and Brandon Walker eight. Mike Ison had six for Rock Hill.

Ironton10181723-68

Rock Hill122712-33

IRONTON (2-0):

Brigham Waginger 9-14

(2-2)

0-0

20, Josh Sands 6-10

(1-3)

0-0

13, Joe Zornes 3-11 (0-5)

0-0

6,

Nick Collins 0-2

(0-0)

1-2

1, Derique Bacon 2-3

(0-0)

4-6

8, Dennis Gagai 5-15

(1-3)

0-0

11, Patrick Kouns 1-1

(0-0)

0-0

2, Marcus Williams 3-4

(0-0)

0-2

6, Brent McBride 0-0

(0-0)

0-0

0, Shawon Miller 0-0

(0-0)

0-0

0, Greg Linn 0-1

(0-0)

0-0

0, Brian Wirfeld 0-0

(0-0)

0-0

0, Brandon Walker 0-0

(0-0)

0-1

0, Marcus Royal 0-0

(0-0)

1-2

1. Totals: 29-61

(4-12)

6-11

68.

Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Collins (3:55 4th). Rebounds: 9-15=24 (Gagai 7, Williams 4). Team/deadball rebounds: 4. Assists: 9 (Zornes 3, Waginger 2, Gagai 2). Steals: 20 (Waginger 7, Zornes 4, Sands 3, Gagai 3). Turnovers: 13.

ROCK HILL (0-1):

K.C. Christian 3-10

(0-0)

2-4

8, Sean Mullins 3-6

(2-3)

0-1

8, Donald Cade 1-3

(0-0)

0-0

2, Rickie McDonie 3-7

(1-2)

4-7

11, Roger Joseph 0-0

(0-0)

0-0

0, T.J. Blagg 1-3

(0-0)

0-0

2, David Martin 1-3

(0-0)

0-0

2, Zach Mullins 0-0

(0-0)

0-0

0, Artie Mullins 0-1

(0-0)

0-0

0, Derek Robinson 0-0

(0-0)

0-0

0. Totals: 12-33

(3-5)

6-12

33. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 4-15=19 (Martin 6, McDonie 4, Christian 4). Deadball/team rebounds: 5. Assists: 4 (Cade 2, McDonie 2). Steals: 2. Turnovers: 36.