And they’re off and running.

No, it’s not the running of the Kentucky Derby, although the Ironton Fighting Tigers did a good impressioin of running a race as they raced past the Mount Vernon Yellow Jackets 67-55 Saturday.

Ironton’s running game and tenacious defense took its toll on Mount Vernon.

“We told the kids at the half that we could run them. We saw it in the first half,” Ironton coach Mark LaFon said. “We got the ball out and wore them down.

“Dennis did a nice job, but Brandon Walker and Trevor Allen hit some big shots. Alstan Carter was all over the place. Jared Murphy did a great job for us, and Michael Phillips didn’t have many rebounds but he was the reason why we beat them on the boards. You can’t get around him.”

Ironton held a 28-to-19 rebound advantage including 17-7 in the second half.

Dennis Gagai had 22 points, four rebounds, seven assists and two steals as Ironton pulled off the upset win.

Trevor Allen had 12 points and four rebounds and Brandon Walker 11 points and six rebounds to spark Ironton.

Mount Vernon, a Division I school with four starters back from last season’s 16-6 team, hit 8-of-12 field goal attempts in the first quarter and led by as much as 19-8 on a layup by Brady Swanson with 2:10 left in the quarter.

Gagai then hit a 15-footer, Walker converted a three-point play, Carter hit a layup and Gagai drained a 3-pointer and it was 21-16 with 1:05 on the clock.

The Yellow Jackets were just 3-of-7 from the field with six turnovers in the second quarter as Ironton came back to take a 32-31 lead on a 3-pointer by Gagai with 1:32 left in the half.

Swanson’s foul shot tied the game but J.J. Johnson hit a free throw to put Ironton ahead at the break.

“It took a while for us to recognize what they were doing, but once we started rotating we started to cut off their prime shots,” LaFon said.

The Yellow Jackets took the lead to begin the second half ona three-point play by Matt Parks and later at 37-25 on a layup by Swanson.

But a 3-pointer by Gagai tied the game at 39-39 and two straight layups by Allen gave Ironton the lead for good at 45-41 with 2:56 left in the quarter.

Murphy followed up a missed shot at the end of the quarter to put Ironton ahead 49-45. A foul shot by Walker and a layup b T.J. Keith

at the 3:45 mark of the fourth quarter extended the spread to 54-49.

Carter and Keith each made two fouls and Gagain converted a three-point play that put Ironton ahead 61-49. Two more layups by Gagai had the Fighting Tigers ahead 65-49 with just 1:16 to play.

“Making our free throws was a big part of the game. They stopped the clock and we still scored,” LaFon said.

Swanson led Mt. Vernon with 21 points. Tony Tear had 15 and Parks 13.

Mt. Vernon22101310=55

Ironton19141618=67

MOUNT VERNON (2-1):

Chris Gilbert 1-3 (0—2) 0-0 , Matt Parks 4-10 (1-4) 4-4 14, Preston Fleming 0-3 (0-3) 0-0 0, Brady Swanson 8-15 (3-5) 2-4 21, Tony Tear 7-8 (1-2) 0-0 15, Clint Ingersol 1-1 (0-0) 0-0 2, Nate Short 0-2 (0-1) 2-2 2, Joe Stuart 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 21-43

(5-18)

8-10

55. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 2-14=16 (Parks 10). Team/deadball rebounds: 3. Assists: 5 (Tear 3). Steals: 6 (Gilbert 2). Turnovers: 18.

IRONTON (2-0): Dennis Gagai 9-15 (3-) 1-3 22, Brandon Walker 3-11 (1-4) 4-6 16, T.J. Keith 1-2 (0-1) 2-2 4, Michael Phillips 1-3 (0-0) 1-2 3, Trevor Allen 5-8 1-2 1-1 12, Jared Murphy 3-4 (0-0) 2-2 8, Alstan Carter 2-4 (0-1) 2-2 6, J.J. Johnson 0-0 (0-0) 1-2 1, Andy Colegrove 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 24-47

(5-15)

14-19

67. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 9-17=2 (Walker 6, Gagai 4, Allen 4, Carter 4). Team/deadball rebounds: 2. Assists: 17 (Gagai 7, Carter 6). Steals: 9 (Gagai 3, Walker 2, Carter 2). Turnovers: 17.

Reserves: Ironton 39, Mt. Vernon 35. Ironton scoring: Dustin Carter 21.