Wrong Ironton team falls to Zanesville

Published 12:08 am Sunday, January 18, 2009

The Ironton Fighting Tigers brought out new home uniforms Friday night.

Too bad they forgot to bring out their old game.

Ironton played completely out of character in a 66-50 loss to the Zanesville Blue Devils in a Southeastern Ohio Athletic League game.

Email newsletter signup

The Fighting Tigers did not play their usual aggressive-style defense nor did they handle the usual ups and downs faced in a game.

“We didn’t come out ready to play,” said Ironton coach Mark LaFon. “We got frustrated and our composure wasn’t there. We weren’t the same team I’ve seen for most of the season.”

The loss was the first for Ironton in the league and dropped them into a tie for first place in the South Division. The Fighting Tigers are 9-3 overall and 5-1 in the league.

Zanesville improved to just 3-7 overall but 3-1 in the SEOAL North. The biggest reason for the Blue Devils performance was 6-foot-6 center Joe Prati had 27 points — he was 13 of 17 at the line — and grabbed 14 rebounds.

“Prati dominated us inside. He had his way with us,” said LaFon.

Tanner Gibson added 16 points including three 3-pointers.

Ironton was led by Tim Kochendoerfer with 12 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Johnathon Schweickart had 12 points and two steals.

The margin of defeat for Ironton wasn’t the only thing lopsided. Zanesville was 23-of-29 at the foul line while Ironton was just 6-of-8. The Fighting Tigers were whistled for 20 fouls — two were questionable technicals — to just eight fouls for Zanesville.

The only thing usual for Ironton was its poor start at the beginning of the game. Zanesville jumped out to a 12-2 lead, but Ironton came back to tie the game on treys by Tommy Waginger and Kochendoerfer and two free throws by Travis Elliott.

Allen Harris hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put the Blue Devils up 15-12.

Ironton was down 25-20 on a 3-pointer by Schweickart witih 4:18 left in the half, but Prati hit a foul shot, Gibson a triple, and a technical foul led to a pair of free throws by Prati and then two more by Harris, thus giving Zanesville a 33-20 halftimelead.

The Fighting Tigers came out strong in the second halfand got within 35-30 at the 5:52 mark on a putback by Michael Lamb and a scoop layup by Schweickart.

But a second technical foul turned the momentum and the game.

Prati hit the two free throws and was fouled after the inbounds play and sank one of two attempts.

After a travel call on Ironton, Gibson hit another 3-pointer as the momentum shifted in the other direction and Zanesville lead 41-30.

Dustin Green hit a trey with 52 seconds left in the third quarter to get Ironton within 46-36, but they would get no closer the rest of the game.

Zanesville converted 10-of-13 from the line in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

Zanesville 15 18 15 18 = 66

Ironton 12 8 16 14 = 50

ZANESVILLE (3-7, 3-1): Raheem Forman 3 0 1-2 7, Tanner Gibson 0 3 7-8 16, Brandon Mills 0 1 0-0 3, Allen Harris 3 1 2-2 11, Joe Prati 7 0 13-17 27, Noah Baldwin 0 0 0-0 0, Zach Watts 0 0 0-0 0, Kymm Chandler 0 0 0-0 0, Cole Carpenter 0 0 0-0 0, Devin Jones 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 19-42 23-29 66. Fouls: 8. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 5-11. Rebounds: 6-28=34 (Prati 14). Assists: 6 (Carpenter 2, Harris 2). Steals: 2. Turnovers: 13. Blocked shots: 2 (Prati 2).

IRONTON (9-3, 5-1): John Schweickart 1 3 1-2 12, Lukas Morris 0 0 0-0 0, Dustin Green 1 1 0-0 5, Erin Edens 0 0 0-0 0, Michael Lamb 2 0 3-4 7, Tim Kochendoerfer 3 2 0-0 12, Tommy Waginger 1 2 0-0 8, Travis Elliott 0 0 2-2 2, Robbie Webb 1 0 0-0 2, Casey Jones 1 0 0-0 2, Jon Norris 0 0 0-0 0, Geoff White 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-53 6-8 50. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 7-19. Rebounds: 10-17=27 (Lamb 5, Edens 4, Kochendoerfer 4). Assists: 10 (Edens 3,Green 2, Kochendoerfer 2). Steals: 6 (Kochendoerfer 2, Green 2, Schweickart 2). Turnovers: 13. Blocked shots: Kochendoerfer 1.

RESERVES: Ironton 42, Zanesville 20. Ironton scoring: Tres Wilkes 4, Mac Carter 1, Michael Lawless 2, J.P Taylor 23, Josh Murphy 3, Robbie Webb 5, Casey Jones 4. Zanesville: Michael Durant 2, Devin Jones 4, Jordan Bouterse 7, Kody Crosby 3, Cory Harris 2, Jordan Parker 2.