CHILLICOTHE — There were two things the Ironton Fighting Tigers had to avoid Tuesday night against the Chillicothe Cavaliers.

They failed on both accounts.

Ironton was guilty of a season-high 22 turnovers and was out-rebounded 30-25 with Chillicothe getting 14 offensive rebounds to 6 for the Fighting Tigers. The result was a 73-54 Chillicothe win in a Southeastern Ohio Athletic League South Division game.

“The thing that hurt us number one was turnovers and that comes from not handling the ball and you can’t do that against a team like Chillicothe,” Ironton coach Mark LaFon said.

“The second thing is rebounding. We gave up eight offensive rebounds and that just comes from not blocking out.”

The win virtually clinches the South title for Chillicothe which is now 10-3 overall and 8-0 in the league. Ironton falls to 8-5 and 4-4.

Anthony Hitchens had 15 points, 6-foot-6 Ray Chambers 14 points and 7 rebounds, and Chris Givens 13 points to lead the Cavaliers who shot 30 of 65 from the field.

Ironton was led by Tyler Shoemaker with a game-high 19 points and 6 rebounds. Chad Miller had 11 points and 8 rebounds while Marc Carter added 10 points.

Ironton opened the game with baskets by Tyler Shoemaker and Andy Colegrove to lead 4-0. Chillicothe came back to take a 19-9 lead with 1:19 left in the quarter.

But Chad Miller sank two free throws with no time on the clock, Marc Carter stole the inbounds pass and scored and Dustin Green hit a 3-pointer to draw Ironton within 19-16.

The Cavaliers answered with a 8-0 run to lead 27-16 before Shoemaker’s layup ended the scoring spree. However, Chillicothe closed the half with 6 more points and it was 33-18 at the break.

Miller made two foul shots to begin the second half only to see Chillicothe score 10 unanswered points for a 43-20 lead.

Back-to-back treys by Curtis Baker and Stuart Beverly pushed the lead to 53-26 at the end of the quarter.

The Cavaliers led by as many as many as 30 points early in the fourth quarter before Ironton battled back to outscore them 28-20 in the quarter.

Despite the 19-point loss, LaFon was somewhat upbeat afterwards.

“I’m proud of how my kids fought through the tough times. This is the first time they’ve played together to win. We’re not playing well right now and Chillicothe is, but we’re going to get there. I’m confident of that,” LaFon said.

Ironton117828=54

Chillicothe19142020=73

IRONTON (8-4, 4-3): Alstan Carter 0 0 4-5 4, Tyler Shoemaker 7 0 5-5 19, Chad Miller 1 1 6-8 11, T.J. Keith 1 0 0-0 2, Andy Colegrove 1 0 1-2 3, Marc Carter 2 2 0-0 10, Zach Christensen 0 0 0-0 0, Dustin Green 0 1 2-2 5, Shannon Hensley 0 0 0-0 0, Drew Kuehne 0 0 0-0 0, Bub Johnson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-39

18-22

54. 3-point goals: 4-10. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 6-1=25 (Miller 7, Shoemaker 4). Team rebounds: 1. Assists: 11 (Miller 4). Steals: 7 (7 with 1 each). Turnovers: 22. Blocked shots: None.

CHILLICOTHE (9-3, 7-0): Caleb Knights 3 0 0-1 6, Chris Givens 7 0 1-1 15, Anthony Hitchens 7 0 1-2 15, Seth Dawes 2 1 0-0 7, Ray Chambers 3 0 6-6 12, Mike Newman 1 0 0-0 2, Curtis Baker 0 2 0-0 6, Stuart Beverly 0 2 0-0 6, Nathan Woodworth 0 0 0-0 0, Ron Smith 2 0 0-2 4, Pat McCorkle 0 0 0-0 0, Jordan Benson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 30-65

8-17

73. 3-point goals: 5-11. Rebounds: 14-16=30 (Givens 8, Chambers 7). Team rebounds: 2. Assists: 16 (Knights 4, Hitchens 4, Knights 3). Steals: 10 (Hitchens 4, Knights 3). Turnovers: 14. Blocked shots: Givens 1.

RESERVES: Chillicothe 45, Ironton 28. Ironton scoring leaders: Brandon Klaiber 9, Lamar DuFore 5, Dave Crossan 4, Geoffrey White 3. Chillicothe: Scott North 9, Michael Hamilton 8.