Coach Doug Graham may need to call Dr. Richard Paulus and set up an appointment for his Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers.

Paulus, one of the best heart doctors in the country, may be needed to fix the broken hearts of the Lady Tigers after a physical, hard-fought 29-28 loss to the Chillicothe Lady Cavaliers Wednesday in a pivotal Southeastern Ohio Athletic League game.

“Our girls played their hearts out. It’s a tough loss. To be that close and not win is heartbreaking,” said Graham.

The loss dropped Ironton out of first place in the SEOAL South Division behind Chillicothe. The Lady Cavaliers are 7-1 in the league and Ironton is 7-2.

Neither team could generate much offense in the slow-paced, grinding defensive game.

Ironton (10-4) struggled from the field with an 11-for-42 shooting performance, a mere 26 percent. Leading scorer Mercedes Crockrel had only three points as she suffered a 1-for-12 night, the worst of her career.

“Chillicothe played good defense, but a lot of our shots were shots we usually make. We missed a lot of shots from in the paint from point-blank range,” said Graham.

A layup by Brea Tackett gave Ironton a 2-0 lead and a layup by Crockrel put Ironton up 4-2 at the 3:34 mark. But it was the Lady Tigers’ last lead as Brittny Strawser hit a 3-pointer with three seconds left in the opening quarter and the Cavs led 5-4.

Strawser hit a 10-footer to put Chillicothe up 10-5, but Tackett and Janie Morris hit back-to-back shots from the baseline to get within 10-9.

A 3-pointer by Monique Lee and a layup by Hannah Day helped Chillicothe to a 17-11 halftime lead.

Ironton came back to tie the game at 19-19 on two foul shots by Morris with 3:02 left in the third quarter.

A three-point play by Lee and two foul shots by Strawser gave Chillicothe a 24-19 lead at the end of the quarter.

Tackett hit a trifecta, Lorna Ceaser had a putback, and Crockrel made a foul shot with 3:30 left to get Ironton within 26-25.

But Day converted 3-of-4 free throws in the final 1:29 of the game to give Chillicothe (11-4) a 29-25 lead.

Morris hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left to set the final score.

Morris led Ironton with nine points and 10 rebounds. Tackett and Ceaser had seven points each.

Strawser topped Chillicothe with 13 points while Day had eight points and eight rebounds.

Chillicothe 5 12 7 5 = 29

Ironton 4 7 8 9 = 28

CHILLICOTHE (11-4, 7-1): Brittny Strawser 4 1 2-3 13, Mariah Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Vanessa Montgomery 0 0 2-2 2, Hannah Day 1 1 3-4 8, Monique Lee 1 1 1-1 6, Holly Lemay 0 0 0-0 0, Meghan Martin 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 9-33 8-10 29. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 3-10. Rebounds: 8-17=25 (Day 8). Team rebounds: 2. Assists: 4 (Day 2). Steals: 6 (Lemay 2, Strawser 2). Turnovers: 16.

IRONTON (10-4, 7-2): Mercedes Crockrel 1 0 1-2 3, Alex Taylor 1 0 0-0 2, Brea Tackett 2 1 0-0 7, Janie Morris 2 1 2-2 9, Lorna Ceaser 3 0 1-2 7, Cortney Rister 0 0 0-0 0, Emily Lilly 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11-42 4-6 28. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: Ceaser (4th 0:30). Rebounds: 13-18=31 (Morris 10, Crockrel 7, Ceaser 6). Team rebounds: 1. Assists: 4 (Morris 2). Steals: 9 (Morris 3, Crockrel 2, Tackett 2). Turnovers: 11.