ATHENS — It was a free for all.

To be more specific, a free throw for all.

In a game marred by 60 fouls and 75 free throw attempts, the North Adams Green Devils held on to beat the Ironton Fighting Tigers 72-69 Saturday night in the Division III district championship at Ohio University.

Ironton was called for 35 fouls and North Adams shot almost as many free throws as it attempted field goals. The Devils were 17 of 51 from the field and 36 of 50 from the foul line.

“When a team shoots 50 free throws, kids can get discouraged and we did at times,” Ironton coach Mark LaFon said. “That’s a tough thing to overcome, but we did fight back. We didn’t shoot well and took some bad shots.”

Ironton was only 7 of 28 from the field in the first half including 1 of 11 in the second quarter. North Adams had just two field goals in the second quarter but converted 17 of 21 foul shots to take a 37-22 lead.

Ironton (17-6) battled back and forced 10 turnovers in the third quarter. After trailing by as much as 44-28 with 5:43 on the clock, Ironton closed the quarter with an 11-0 run to get within 46-43.

“With all the foul trouble we had the first half, we had to try and hang on and get to the second half. We did that and got in the game. Things just didn’t work out,” LaFon said.

North Adams (17-6) built a 53-45 lead with six minutes left, but Ironton used a layup by Alstan Carter to cut the spread to just 61-59.

After trading baskets, the free throws began to flow again with the Green Devils making four straight to lead 69-63. Marc Carter hit a 3-pointer and it was 69-66 with just 20 seconds left.

A foul shot by Drew Copas gave North Adams a 70-66 lead only to have Marc Carter drain another trey and it was 70-69 with just six seconds left.

With Ironton forced to foul, Kent Edingfield sank two free throws with five seconds left and it was 72-69. Marc Carter’s long 3-point attempt came up short as the buzzer sounded.

Despite the loss, LaFon was pleased with the season.

“We talked to the kids about where we wanted to be and to create a tradition. We wanted to get where we expect to be here and we’ve done that,” LaFon said.

Marc Carter had 18 points, Chad Miller 17 and Alstan Carter 16 to lead Ironton. Miller also had 8 rebounds and three assists.

Kraig Unger led North Adams with 21. Drew Copas had 12 points, Edingfield 10 and Stephen Sparks 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Ironton 139212669

North Adams162192672

IRONTON (17-6):

Marc Carter 3 3 3-6 18, Alston Carter 7 0 2-2 16, Chad Miller 3 2 5-12 17, Andy Colegrove 2 0 0-0 4, Tyler Shoemaker 2 0 0-0 2, Zach Christensen 0 1 0-0 3, Dustin Green 0 0 1-2 1 . Totals: 25-56 13-25. 3-point goals: 6-18. Fouls: 35. Fouled out: A.Carter (4th :25), Shoemaker (4th :05). Rebounds: 32 (Miller 8, Christensen 5). Team rebounds: 1. Assists: 8 (Miller 3, Keith 2). Steals: 11 (M. Carter 6, A. Carter 2 ). Turnovers: 21. Blocked shots: None.

NORTH ADAMS (17-6): Drew Copas 2 0 8-10 12, Sam Louden 0 0 5-6 5, Kraig Unger 5 1 8-11 21, Stephen Sparks 3 1 1-4 10, Karl Rabold 2 0 3-6 7, Curtis Bolton 1 0 0-0 2, Kent Edingfield 2 0 6-6 10, Nick Platt 0 0 1-3 1, Tyler Rathwell 0 0 4-4 4. Totals: 17-51 36-50. 3-point goals: 2-13. Fouls: 25. Fouled out: Sparks (3rd 3:48), Rathwell (4th :23). Rebounds: 36 (Sparks 11). Team rebounds: 7. Assists: 4 (Unger 2). Steals: 14 (Unger 5). Turnovers: 22. Blocked shots: None.

Officials: John Derrow, Shelby Hitchens, Dave Hopkins.