The weather forecast was cooling temperatures followed by a storm.

The cooling was the shooting of the Chillicothe Cavaliers. The storm came from the Ironton Fighting Tigers who stormed back from a 10-point halftime deficit to upset the Cavaliers 55-49 Friday in a Southeastern Ohio Athletic League game.

“We didn’t play well the first half and they were killing us on the boards,” said Ironton coach Mark LaFon. “We told the kids at halftime that this was a big boy game and you had better play like big boys.

“We did a better job getting a body on them and keeping them off the boards, but the big thing is we battled. We showed our Ironton spirit. We played with some grit and didn’t back down. They were a very physical and athletic team.”

The Cavaliers (1-1) were just 19 of 61 from the field for the game — 31 percent — and a mere 6 of 27 in the second half as Ironton erased a 10-point halftime deficit.

Ironton (4-0, 2-0) gave a complete opposite performance. The Fighting Tigers were 20 of 48 from the floor for the game and 13 of 26 in the second half.

Dustin Green proved to be foul weather for the Chillicothe defense as he led Ironton with a game-high 25 points including 15 in the third quarter when Ironton rallied to take a 39-35 lead.

“I felt I had to help the team out by taking more shots,” said Green. “Coach (LaFon) gave us advice to box out and we came out and played hard and everybody did what they were supposed to do.”

Chillicothe (1-1, 0-1) had nine put-back baskets among their 13 field goals in the first half in taking a 28-18 halftime lead. The Cavaliers also dominated the glass with 15 offensive rebounds to just 10 total rebounds in the half for Ironton.

Green hit a 3-pointer with 2:33 left in the third quarter to tie the game and a layup by Erin Edens at the 1:55 mark gave Ironton the lead for good. Green’s 18-footer extended the lead to 39-35.

After a layup by Lukas Morris staked Ironton to a 49-41 lead, the Cavaliers got within 49-46 when Seth Dawes made two foul shots and then converted a three-point play with 2:18 left.

But Johnathon Schweickart — who had two big steals and baskets in the first quarter — hit the front end of a one-and-one and Green got a run-out layup with 1:18 left and it was 52-46.

Chillicothe was forced to foul and Ironton converted 3 of 6 to open up a nine-point lead. Caleb Knights banked in a 3-pointer with two seconds left to set the final score.

“Dustin really stepped up and kept his composure when things got really tough. Michael Lamb took over on the boards in the fourth quarter and played like he’s capable of playing. All our kids just played so hard. I’m proud of our effort,” said LaFon.

Lamb had 10 points and 16 rebounds — nine in the fourth quarter — as Ironton out-rebounded the Cavaliers 20-15 in the second half.

Knights led the Cavaliers with 20 points. Dawes had 10 points and nine rebounds while Ronnie Smith also had nine boards.

Chillicothe 14 14 7 14 = 49

Ironton 10 8 21 16 = 55

CHILLICOTHE (1-1, 0-1): Caleb Knights 7 1 3-8 20, Michael Turner 0 0 0-0 0, Ronnie Smith 4 0 0-2 8, Jordan Benson 1 0 0-2 2, Seth Dawes 3 0 4-5 10, Greg Volkinburg 2 0 0-2 4, James VanVoorhis 0 0 0-0 0, Eric Young 0 0 0-0 0, Donta Thompson 0 1 0-0 3. Totals: 19-61 7-19 49. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 2-15. Rebounds: 21-o, 19-d = 40 (Smith 9, Dawes 9, Volkinburg 6). Assists: 2. Steals: 7 (Dawes 2, Young 2). Turnovers: 16.

IRONTON 4-0, 2-0): Johnathon Schweickart 3 0 2-4 8, Tim Kochendoerfer 2 0 2-2 6, Lukas Morris 1 0 0-0 2, Dustin Green 6 4 1-3 25, Michael Lamb 3 0 4-510, Erin Edens 1 0 1-2 3, Tommy Waginger 0 0 0-0 0, Malcolm Morton 0 0 0-0 0, Travis Elliott 0 0 1-2 1. Totals: 20-48 11-18 55. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 4-11. Rebounds: 13-o, 25-d = 38 (Lamb 16, Green 5). Assists: 6 (Green 2, Kochendoerfer 2). Steals: 8 (Schweickart 2, Kochendoerfer 2). Turnovers: 20.

RESERVES: Chillicothe 37, Ironton 35. Ironton: Robbie Webb 11, Casey Jones 6, Travis Elliott 6. Chillicothe: Isaac Beverly 13, Jalen Ragland 12.