Give the Ironton Fighting Tigers an “A” for effort. And give them a “W” while you’re at it.

Ironton used a strong effort to get past the Gallipolis Blue Devils 41-38 Saturday in a Southeastern Ohio Athletic League game.

“I was happy with our effort and that we won, but we’ve got a long way to go,” said Ironton coach Mark LaFon.

“Every one of our kids played hard. We did a great job on the boards. Our effort was the difference for us.”

Nick Lewis made two foul shots with 41 seconds left that gave Ironton a 39-36 lead.

“I was a little nervous,” said Lewis, holding his fingers only millimeters apart. “My legs were a little wobbly, but boy it feels good.”

David Rumley scored off an inbounds pass under the basket with 24 seconds left to get Gallipolis within one. Rumley was fouled on the play but missed the free throw.

Kyle Mitchell got the rebound, but Chris McCoy was called for charging when he jumped into the defense forcing up a shot.

Marc Carter was fouled with nine seconds left and hit both foul shots to give Ironton a three-point lead.

The Blue Devils missed an 18-footer at the buzzer and Ironton had a win in its first home game of the season.

“Gallipolis played hard. We had them down and we were about to put them away and they fought hard to get back in it. Give them a lot of credit,” said LaFon.

Ironton (2-3, 2-1) led most of the first quarter only to have Gallipolis take a 10-9 lead on a 15-footer by McCoy just before the buzzer.

But the Fighting Tigers defense held the Blue Devils to 1-of-6 shooting in the second quarter as they began to surge ahead.

Carter hit a pair f treys including one with five seconds left that made it 20-13 at the break.

Lukas Morris hit a 10-footer as Ironton went up 26-18 midway through the third quarter.

Gallipolis got within 26-25 on a triple by McCoy and two layups by Rumley, but Jon Schweickart followed up a missed shot and Bub Johnson came up with a steal and drained a 17-footer at the buzzer to give Ironton a 30-25 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Carter finished with 11 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists for Ironton.

McCoy scored 16 and Rumley 12 to lead Gallipolis (2-3, 1-2)

Gallipolis1031213=38

Ironton9111011=41

GALLIPOLIS (2-3, 1-2): Quinten Nibert 1-8 0-0 2, Chris McCoy 6-9 1-2 16, Kyle Mitchell 1-3 0-0 2, Zach Brown 0-4 1-2 1, David Rumley 6-11 0-2 12, Ethan Moore 1-1 0-0 3, John Troester 1-2 0-0 2, Chris Armstrong 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-38 2-6 38. 3-point goals: 4-11 (McCoy 3-5, Moore 1-1, Nibert 0-2, Mitchell 0-1, Brown 0-1, Rumley 0-1). Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 5-16=21 (Rumley 7, Mitchell 6, Brown 3). Team rebounds: 1. Assists: 5 (McCoy 3). Steals: 7 (McCoy 4). Turnovers: 18.

IRONTON (2-3, 2-1): Marc Carter 3-13 2-2 11, Zach Christensen 1-7 0-0 3, Jon Schweickart 3-4 0-0 6, Dustin Green 2010 0-0 4, Nick Lewis 0-2 4-4 4, Bub Johnson 1-3 0-1 2, Lukas Morris 3-3 0-0 6, Robbie Webb 1-4 3-4 5, Erin Edens 0-0 0-0 0, Cory McKnight 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-46 9-11 41. 3-point goals: 4-13 (Carter 3-7, Christensen 1-2, Schweickert 0-1, Green 0-2, Johnson 0-1). Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 14-20=34 (Morris 7, Green 6, Schweickart 6, Carter 4, Webb 3). Team rebounds: 2. Assists: 7 (Carter 3, Edens 2). Steals: 10 (Carter 4, Johnson 3). Turnovers: 17.

Jayvee: Ironton 45, Gallipolis 32. Ironton leaders: Erin Edens 11, Brandon Klaiber 9, J.P. Taylor 7, Travis Elliott 7. Gallipolis: Corey Eberhard 15, Chuck Calvert 7.