Even while they were stumbling around, Ironton coach Mark LaFon saw his Fighting Tigers taking some big steps.

Even though Ironton did not play well in its season opener, LaFon saw a maturation in his team that helped hold off the Fairland Dragons 71-65 Tuesday.

“It wasn’t pretty and I wasn’t happy with the way we played, but a year ago we would have never won a game like that early in the season. We kept our composure,” said LaFon.

After leading 35-27 at the half, Ironton built a 40-29 lead in the third quarter only to watch Fairland put together a 13-2 run that tied the game at 42-42.

But instead of calling a timeout, LaFon chose to let his team fight its way through the moment. The gamble paid off.

“I could have called a timeout and bailed them out, but I wanted to make a point. I wanted to see how they reacted and they didn’t crack or lose their composure,” said LaFon.

Chad Fisher tied the game for Fairland and the scored was tied again at 46-46, but baskets by Tommy Waginger and Travis Elliott put Ironton up for good at 50-46 at the end of the third quarter.

“Fairland played hard. They dove for every loose ball on the floor and they hit every shot they needed to hit,” said LaFon.

A free throw by Adam Berry got Fairland within 56-55, but Dustin Green and Lukas Morris hit two baskets each and the lead was 64-55.

Green came off the bench to lead Ironton with 19 points. Tim Kochendoerfer, who carried Ironton early, had 13 points, six rebounds and a pair of steals. Erin Edens added 10 points and five rebounds.

Michael Lamb led all rebounders with nine as Ironton won the battle of the glass 40-21.

Fairland (1-1) was led by Cole Hatfield with a game-high 23 points and eight rebounds. He also had five steals and four assists.

Tyler Godby scored 15 points and Zach Jordan had 11 points.

Ironton 18 17 15 21 = 71

Fairland 12 15 19 19 = 65

IRONTON (1-0): John Schweickart 4-5 0-0 1-1 9, Michael Lamb 2-7 3-4 7, Tim Kochendoerfer 6-13 1-4 13, Erin Edens 3-5 4-5 10, Lukas Morris 3-6 1-4 7, Dustin Green 9-15 0-1 19, Malcolm Morton 0-3 0-0 0, Travis Elliott 1-3 0-0 2, Tommy Waginger 2-5 0-0 4, Robbie Webb 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 30-62 10-19 71. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 1-9 (Green 1-5, Waginger 0-3, Kochendoerfer 0-1). Rebounds: 16-24=40 (Lamb 9, Kochendoerfer 6, Morris 5, Elliott 5, Edens 5). Assists: 14 (Green 4, Lamb 3, Edens 3). Steals: 5 (Kochendoerfer 2, Green 2). Turnovers: 16.

FAIRLAND (1-1): Aaron Ward 1-6 0-0 2, Cole Hatfield 9-21 2-5 23, Chris Fisher 2-7 0-0 5, Matt Bloomfield 3-4 0-0 6, Adam Berry 1-4 1-3 3, Tyler Godby 5-9 5-5 15, Zach Jordan 4-8 2-3 11. Totals: 25-59 10-15 65. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: Berry. 3-point goals: 5-25 (Ward 0-4, Hatfield 3-11, Fisher 1-5, Berry 0-1, Godby 0-1, Jordan 1-3). Rebounds: 6-15=21 (Hatfield 8, Jordan 4). Assists: 14 (Bloomfield 4, Hatfield 4, Fisher 3). Steals: 7 (Hatfield 5). Turnovers: 11.