LUCASVILLE - It's been said that defenses win championships. The Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers would agree.

Ironton was playing for the first time in 11 days and the offense looked out of sync. But the defense was right on schedule as the Lady Fighting Tigers dominated the Wheelersburg Lady Pirates 42-22 Thursday to win the Division III sectional championship.

The Lady Pirates were just 8 of 41 from the field for 19.5 percent. Ironton's first team allowed the Lady Pirates just 16 points and five field goals.

"Our shots just wouldn't drop. It's a good thing we concentrated on rebounding and defense this season," Ironton coach Amy Hughes said.

"We looked like we hadn't played in 11 days, but the defense did the job. They couldn't get off shots, and when they did we made them adjust their shots. We were taking a lot of things away from them."

The victory gives Ironton a 20-win season at 20-1. The Lady Tigers will play Minford at noon Saturday, Feb. 19, at Waverly High School in the district semifinals.

Minford beat New Lexington 48-32.

Andrea Rudmann scored 16 points to lead Ironton. Danielle Henderson had 9 points and 8 rebounds. Mandi Boykin had 10 rebounds and 6 assists while Sara Hacker hauled down 9 rebounds. Ironton outrebounded Wheelersburg 42-32.

"The ball was coming off long and it made it hard to rebound. I just worked my way in there and got position," Hacker said.

Ironton's win also meant the team has now won three straight sectional titles under Hughes.

"It's nice to win 20 games and the sectional, but this is just the next step," Rudmann said. "This isn't all we want. We want to keep on winning. The state tournament is our goal."

After Brittany Glockner made a foul shot for Wheelersburg, Ironton went on a 6-0 run and never trailed. Rudmann hit two straight baseline jumpers and Henderson made a layup as the Lady Tigers took a 12-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Kendra Massie hit a 3-pointer at the 6:39 mark of the second quarter as the Lady Pirates got within 12-8, but it was their only field goal of the quarter.

Ironton went on a 10-0 run to close out the quarter and it was 22-8 at the half.

Henderson

hit a 10-footer and followed up a missed shot to start the third quarter and push Ironton's lead to 26-8. She later hit a short jumper, Boykin scored in close and Rudmann nailed a 3-pointer with seven seconds left as the lead went to 33-11 at the end of the quarter.

"The shots were just there. They started going in and I felt more confident," Henderson said.

Rudmann nailed a 3-pointer with 5:04 left to play that gave Ironton its biggest lead of the game at 40-14.

Erin Faulkner led the Lady Pirates (12-9) with 12 points and 7 rebounds.

Wheelersburg53311-22

Ironton1210119-42

WHEELERSBURG (12-9):

Kendra Massie 1-12 (1-5) 0-2 3, Brittany Glockner 0-6 (0-1) 3-4 3, Brittany Meenach 1-5 (1-4) 0-2 3, Jessica Blanton 0-6 (0-2) 0-0 0, Erin Faulkner 6-10 (0-0) 0-0 12, Brittany Warner 0-2 (0-0) 1-2 1. Totals: 8-41

(2-12)

4-10

22. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 6-17=23 (Faulkner 7, Massie 7). Team/deadball rebounds: 9. Assists: 3 (Massie 2). Steals: 11 (Glockner 3, Meenach 3). Turnovers: 20. FG% 19.5. FT% 40. 3pt% 16.7.

IRONTON (20-1):

Andrea Rudmann 7-14 (2-5) 0-0 16, Danielle Henderson 4-7 (0-0) 1-2 9, Mandi Boykin 3-9 (0-1) 1-2 7, Sarah Cartmell 1-4 (0-0) 5-9 7, Sara Hacker 1-9 (0-0) 0-0 2, Jessica Waddle 0-6 (0-0) 0-0 0, Ciara Taylor 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Rachel Walker 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Chelsea Cleary 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Kayla Wileman 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Sami Morgan 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Ashley Moritz 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Kathleen Baker 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Jessica Weaver 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 16-50

(3-6)

7-13

42. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 17-23=40 (Boykin 10, Hacker 9, Henderson 8). Team/deadball rebounds: 2. Assists: 10 (Boykin 6, Rudmann 3). Steals: 8 (Cartmell 3, Boykin 2, Waddle 2). Turnovers: 14. FG% 32. FT% 53.8. 3pt% 50.