JACKSON — The key number was “3.”

Ironton had a 10-point halftime lead, but the Fighting Tigers weren’t playing well. It was only fitting that the 3s began to occur in the third quarter.

Ironton used used four 3-pointers and a three free throws situation to break open Tuesday’s Southeastern Ohio Athletic League game and rout the Jackson Ironmen 67-34.

“Outside of one minute at the end of the third quarter, we played pretty well no matter who we were playing,” said Ironton coach Mark LaFon.

“I wasn’t happy with how we played the first half. I told them they were going to play a certain way or they weren’t going to play. They responded well.”

Marc Carter led Ironton with 19 points including four triples. Jon Schweickert hit a pair of 3-pointers as Ironton went 7-of-13 from behind the arc.

Schweickart finished with 14 points for Ironton (5-4, 4-2). Cody Taylor came off the bench to scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

Tyler Boggs had 18 points and Morgan Dobbins 11 for Jackson (2-9, 0-6).

Two foul shots by Andy Buescher with 5:25 left in the first quarter gave Jackson a 5-4 lead, their last of the game.

A short runner by Zach Christensen put Ironton back on top and then Carter hit a 3-pointer, Lukas Morris scored from 10 feet away, and Carter’s 12-footer at the 2:17 mark opened up a 13-5 lead.

A 3-pointer by Boggs with a minute left in the quarter got Jackson within 15-11.

Ironton used an 11-2 run in the second quarter to open up a 26-14 lead. Two foul shots by Bub Johnson had the lead at 28-15 only to have Dobbins knocked down a trey at the buzzer as Jackson made it 28-18 at the break.

But then came the third quarter.

Carter hit a 3-pointer, was fouled taking a trey and made all three foul shots for a 34-18 lead.

After a layup by Buescher at the 5:58 mark, Scheweickart drained a pair of trifectas and Christensen followed up a missed shot and it was 42-20.

A triple by Cory McKnight gave Ironton a 47-21 lead with 1:23 left in the quarter.

Ironton continued to pull away in the fourth quarter as Taylor scored nine points.

On Friday, Ironton travels to unbeaten Zanesville, ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press Division I poll.

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Jackson11779=34

IRONTON (5-4, 4-2): Marc Carter 2 4 3-5 19, Bub Johnson 0 0 2-2 2, Zach Christensen 4 0 0-0 8, Jon Schweickart 4 2 0-3 14, Robbie Webb 0 0 1-2 1, Lukas Morris 3 0 1-2 7, Cory McKnight 0 1 0-0 3, Cody

Taylor 4 0 3-5 11, J.P. Taylor 0 0 0-0 0, Byron Brammer 0 0 0-0 0, Brandon Klaiber 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 25-51. 3-point goals: 7-13. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 15-32=47 (Taylor 9, Morris 6, Schweickart 6, Johnson 4, Brammer 4). Team rebounds: 1. Assists: 7 (Carter 3, Schweickart 2). Steals: 11 (Carter 5, Johnson 3). Turnovers: 20.

JACKSON (2-9, 0-6): Tyler Boggs 3 3 3-6 18, Morgan Dobbins 3 1 2-5 11, Andy Buescher 1 0 2-2 4, Dylan Newsom 0 0 0-0 0, Evan Stacy 0 0 0-0 0, Josh Brown 0 0 0-0 0, Kyle Newsom 0 0 0-0 0, Eric Landrum 0 0 0-0 0, Perry DiFranco 0 0 0-0 0, Nathaniel Haller 0 0 0-0 0, Andrew Brown 0 0 1-2 1. Totals: 11-49 8-15 34. 3-point goals: 4-23. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 7-11=18 (Boggs 6, Buescher 5). Team rebounds: 6. Assists: 2 (D. Newsom 1, Dobbins 1). Steals: 1 (Stacy). Turnovers: 19.