As legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi once said, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

Things got tough quickly Saturday afternoon for the Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers as they fell behind 12-1 with 2:38 left in the first quarter.

But the Lady Tigers battled back against the North Division leaders as they took a 59-53 Southeastern Ohio Athletic League win over the Zanesville Lady Blue Devils.

“Zanesville came out and they were lighting it up. But I have to give our girls credit. They battled through it and once they got playing, they played well,” said Ironton coach Doug Graham.

“That was a good team and that’s a tough place to play. That’s a good win for us.”

It turned out to be an even bigger win. Couple with Chillicothe’s loss at Marietta, Ironton is now tied for first place in the South Division and the two teams meet Wednesday at the Conley Sports Center.

Ironton (10-3,7-1) was led by Brea Tackett with a career-high 27 points and Janie Morris scored 18 points.

After Zanesville took its big lead, Morris scored six points as Ironton cut the gap to 18-9.

Tackett pumped in nine points in the second quarter and the defense held Zanesville to six as Ironton closed to within 24-21 at the break.

Ironton tied the game at 40 in the fourth quarter as Morris scored seven points.

Tackett had nine more points in the fourth quarter and Ironton led 49-47 when Zanesville’s Aisha Reese was fouled with six-tenths of a second to play. She hit both free throws to send the game into overtime.

But Lorna Ceaser converted a key three-point play at the 2:15 mark to put Ironton up by four points and Tackett went 4-for-4 at the foul line to seal the win.

“That play by Lorna really swung the momentum,” said Graham.

Katie Lianez had 14 points and Ashley Dobbins 13 for Zanesville (10-4, 4-2).

Ironton 9 12 14 14 10 = 59

Zanesville 18 6 11 14 4 = 53

IRONTON (10-3, 7-1): Mercedes Crockrel 1 0 0-0 2, Alex Taylor 2 0 2-4 6, Brea Tackett 2 5 8-10 27, Janie Morris 6 0 6-7 18, Lorna Ceaser 2 0 2-3 6, Emily Lilly 0 0 0-0 0, Cortney Rister 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 5 18-24 59. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None.

ZANESVILLE (10-4, 4-2): Katie Lianez 5 0 4-8 14, Kailee Howe 1 0 0-0 2, Aisha Reese 1 0 2-2 4, Rachella Roessler 1 0 0-0 2, Michelle Twiggs 1 0 0-0 2, Maddie Brown 2 2 0-0 10, Tasha Alexander 2 0 0-0 4, Ashley Dobbins 5 0 3-4 13, Katie Umstott 0 0 2-2 2. Totals: 17 2 11-16 53. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: Twiggs.