RACELAND, Ky. - The defense went right, but Josh Sands went left, and he left the Raceland Rams holding the bag.

Sands hit a 12-foot jumper with four seconds to play that lifted the short-handed Ironton Fighting Tigers to a 47-45 win over the Rams Tuesday.

"The whole game they kept yelling to make me go left, but I'd go right. (The Rams defender) thought I was going to go right, but I made a move and went left. I'm confident I can go either way," Sands said.

Ironton (13-2) was playing without leading scorer Dennis Gagai who was suffering from a sprained ankle. Sixth man Nick Collins remained out for the second straight game due to an illness.

Coach Roger Zornes said his team was able to overcome the absences and get a road win. Zornes complimented the play of Marcus Williams, Patrick Kouns, Tyler McDaniels, and Brandon Walker.

"This is a tough place to play," Zornes said. "This was a physical game but our kids hung in there. It was hard for us to run our offensive sets.

"With Dennis and Nick out, we had some kids respond well. They didn't have a lot of varsity experience and they played well."

Brigham Waginger scored 13 points, had three assists, and six steals to lead Ironton. Sands had four steals, Williams scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds, Joe Zornes added seven points, six rebounds and three assists, while Derique Bacon added six points and five rebounds.

Aaron Pettrey scored 20 points, including 4 of 8 from 3-point range, to pace Raceland (8-9).

The Rams led 9-2 early before Ironton got within 9-8 on a follow-up shot by Bacon. Jamason Sparks' three-point play put the Rams up 15-10 before Waginger's 3-pointer before the buzzer made it 15-13.

Ironton got its first lead at 18-17 on a steal and layup by Waginger with 4:51 to go in the half. Raceland went up 24-20 on a 3-pointer by Pettrey, only to have Waginger score with 1:15 left to tie the game at 24-24.

But Raceland went up 27-24 at the half when Sparks banked in a 3-pointer from halfcourt at the buzzer.

Kouns made a layup with 4:06 on the clock in the third quarter to give Ironton its biggest lead at 35-30. Jared Lemon made a foul shot and Pettrey hit a 3-pointer to close the gap to 35-34 as the quarter ended.

Waginger made both ends of a one-and-one with 45 seconds left to give Ironton a 45-42 lead, but he left the game with an ankle injury he sustained on the play.

Pettrey hit another 3-pointer with 24 seconds left to tie the game. Sands, who had missed his first eight shots of the game, then took control and hit the game-winning shot.

"I thought my shot was there the whole game. The shots were going in and out. I still felt real confident," Sands said.

In the reserve game, Ironton won 36-32 as Michael Phillips scored 14 and Brandon Walker eight. Josh Miller scored 22 for the Rams.

Ironton13111112-47

Raceland1512711-45

IRONTON (12-2):

Josh Sands 3-12 (0-3) 0-0 6, Brigham Waginger 4-9 (1-2) 4-4 13, Joe Zornes 3-9 (1-3) 0-0 7, Derique Bacon 2-4 (0-0) 2-2 6, Marcus Williams 4-6 (0-0) 0-0 8, Tyler McDaniels 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Patrick Kouns 2-2 (0-0) 1-2 5, Brandon Walker 0-1 (0-1) 0-0 0. Totals: 19-44

(2-10)

7-8

47. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 8-16=24 (Zornes 6, Bacon 5). Team/dead ball rebounds: None. Assists: 8 (Waginger 3, Zornes 3). Steals: 12 (Waginger 6, Sands 4). Turnovers: 15. FG% – 43.2. FT% – 87.5. 3pt% – 20.

RACELAND (8-9):

Ross Reed 2-6 (0-0) 3-4 7, Thomas Tolliver 1-3 (0-0) 0-0 2, Aaron Pettrey 7-12 (4-8) 2-2 20, Jared Lemon 0-4 (0-0) 1-4 1, Daniel Watts 2-4 (1-3) 0-0 5, Jamason Sparks 2-7 (1-2) 1-1 6, Brandon Hatfield 1-1 (0-0) 0-0 2, Pecos Osborn 1-1 (0-0) 0-0 2. Totals: 16-38

(6-12)

7-11

45. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 4-14=18 (Reed 6, Pettrey 5). Team/dead ball rebounds: 4. Assists: 4. Steals: 11 (Lemon 3). Turnovers: 17. FG% – 42.1. FT% – 63.6. 3pt% – 50.