FLATWOODS, Ky. - If anyone asks the Ironton Fighting Tigers for an autograph, they'll all look the same.

"Defense."

Ironton turned in one of its strongest defensive efforts of the season in a 57-28 rout of the Russell Red Devils Friday.

"Defense is becoming our signature," Ironton coach Rogers Zornes said. "The defense just keeps getting better. I noticed in practice that we were really focused. It showed tonight with our on-the-ball defense."

Only three players scored for Russell which managed to score just two points in the third quarter after getting only 14 points the first half. Russell was a mere 10 of 43 from the field for 23.3 percent.

"We didn't have anyone we went after, we just wanted to play good, strong, sound fundamental defense and we pretty well did," Zornes said.

Josh Sands had 17 points as Ironton improved to 10-2. Brigham Waginger had 14 points, 11 rebounds, and three assists while Dennis Gagai added 11 points, five rebounds, three assists, and four steals. Derique Bacon grabbed six rebounds.

Marcus Williams, starting in place of Joe Zornes who missed the game due to an illness, had five rebounds as Ironton dominated the boards 34 to 17.

Russell (7-7) was led by Chase Schweitzer with 12 pionts and Derek Sloan 10.

"We won't see a better team on our regular season schedue," Russell coach Steve Dodd said. "We went long stretches without getting anything offensively."

Neither team could get started as Ironton was 4 of 16 from the field the first quarter and Russell 3 of 11. The Fighting Tigers led 9-8 on a 3-pointer by Gagai just before the buzzer.

Two foul shots by Austin Blair got Russell within 17-14 with 1:53 left in the half. Ironton then scored the final seven points of the half to lead 24-14 at the break.

"Once we recognized their combination defense and showed them what to do, our eyes lit up. It took a little time to adjust, but then we saw the openings," Zornes said.

Ironton's eyes were wide-open in the third quarter. Gagai and Sloan traded baskets to start the half, and then the Fighting Tigers went on a 19-0 run to finish the quarter and make it 45-16.

In the fourth quarter, two foul shots by Gagai gave Ironton its biggest lead at 54-22.

Ironton9152112-57

Russell88212-28

IRONTON (10-2):

Josh Sands 4-9 (2-5) 7-8 17, Brigham Waginger 5-10 (2-3) 2-4 14, Dennis Gagai 4-13 (1-5) 2-2 11, Derique Bacon 2-4 (0-0) 1-2 5, Marcus Williams 2-7 (0-0) 0-0 4, Nick Collins 1-2 (0-0) 1-2 3, Patrick Kouns 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Greg Linn 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Brent McBride 0-0 (0-0) 1-2 1, Brandon Walker 0-0 (0-0) 1-2 1, Tyler McDaniels 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Michael Phillips 0-1 (0-0) 1-2 1, Shawon Miller 0-1 (0-1) 0-0 0, Brian Wirfeld 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Marcus Royal 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 18-47

(5-13)

16-24

57. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 14-20=34 (Waginger 11, Bacon 6, Williams 5, Gagai 5). Team/dead ball rebounds: 6. Assists: 8 (Gagai 3, Waginger 3, Sands 2). Steals: 9 (Gagai 4, Williams 2). Turnovers: 13. FG% – 38.3. FT% – 66.7. 3pt% – 38.5.

RUSSELL (7-7):

Jonathan VanHoose 0-4 (0-2) 0-0 0, Austin Blair 2-12 (0-4) 2-2 6, Chase Schweitzer 4-10 (4-7) 0-0 12, Derek Sloan 4-7 (2-3) 10, Jeremy Jones 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Chris Fain 0-2 (0-1) 0-0 0, Kasey Clark 0-3 (0-0) 0-0 0, Jeremy Lavendar 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Trey Edwards 0-2 (0-2) 0-0 0, Jared Simpson 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Patrick Clarke 0-2 (0-2) 0-0 0, Cameron Martin 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 10-43

(6-21)

2-2

28. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 4-13=17 (Sloan 5, Schweitzer 5). Team/dead ball rebounds: 3. Assists: 2. Steals: 5. Turnovers: 17. FG% – 23.3. FT% – 100. 3pt% – 28.6.