If competition makes you better, the Ironton Fighting Tigers can expect to improve even more before the end of the season.

Ironton’s competitive nature was the key to a 54-34 win over the Gallipolis Blue Devils Tuesday in a Southeastern Ohio Athletic League game.

“This is a competitive group. They go as hard in practice as they do in the game,” said Ironton coach Mark LaFon.

“We played pretty well for a little over three quarters. We hustled on defense and rotated well, and we played good team offense. We’re starting to hit our stride.”

Other than a 2-2 tie, Ironton took charge early and never trailed.

Michael Lamb scored Ironton’s first seven points as they took a 7-2 lead.

A steal and layup by Johnathon Schweickart opened up a 14-4 lead and a three-point play by Tim Kochendoerfer had Ironton up 17-9 at the end of the quarter.

A 3-pointer by Nick Mitchell had Gallipolis trailing 19-12 with 6:25 left in the half, but Ironton took over and used a putback by Schweickart and two straight baskets by Kochendoerfer to build a 27-13 cushion.

A baseline jumper by Kyle Mitchell cut Ironton’s lead to 29-17 at the break.

The Fighting Tigers’ defense clamped down and held Gallipolis to five points in the third quarter on 2-of-10 shooting. Two foul shots by Kochendoerfer gave Ironton a 41-22 lead at the end of the stanza.

Gallipolis (9-7, 3-7) did get within 44-32 with 3:48 left on a three-point play by Quinten Nibert, but Schweickart hit two foul shots and a driving layup and Robbie Webb had a layup to open up a 50-32 spread and Ironton coasted the rest of the way.

“Gallipolis is a hard team to play. They like to control the tempo and their style makes it tough for teams to get into any kind of rhythm. Other than a few mistakes, I thought we did a good job of handling their style,” said LaFon.

Lamb led Ironton (11-4, 6-2) with 14 points to go with four rebounds. Kochendoerfer had 13 points including 7-of-7 from the foul line. Ironton converted a season-best 17-of-21 at the line.

Kyle Mitchell had 12 points to pace the Blue Devils.

Gallipolis 9 8 5 12 = 34

Ironton 17 12 12 13 = 54

GALLIPOLIS (9-7, 3-7): Quinten Nibert 3 0 2-3 8, Ethan Moore 0 0 0-0 0, Chris Armstrong 1 0 3-4 5, Kyle Mitchell 6 0 0-0 12, John Troester 1 0 0-0 2, Nick Mitchell 0 2 1-2 7, Evan Wood 0 0 0-0 0, Beau Whaley 0 0 0-0 0, Chuck Calvert 0 0 0-0 0, Jordan Cornwell 0 0 0-0 0, Zeke Maher 0 0 0-0 0, Corey Eberhard 0 0 2-2 2. Totals: 12-41 8-11 34. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Nibert (4th 1:43). 3-point goals: 2-15. Rebounds: 9-16=25 (K. Mitchell 4, Golden 4, Moore 3). Assists: 6 (Whaley 2, K. Mitchell 2). Steals: 7 (Armstrong 2, K. Mitchell 2). Turnovers: 23. Blocked shots: 2 (K. Mitchell 2).

IRONTON (11-4, 6-2): Malcolm Morton 0 0 2-2 2, Tim Kochendoerfer 3 0 7-7 13, Lukas Morris 2 0 0-0 4, Erin Edens 0 0 0-0 0, Michael Lamb 4 1 3-5 14, Johnathon Schweickart 3 0 3-3 9, Tommy Waginger 2 0 1-1 5, Travis Elliott 1 0 0-0 2, Rob Webb 1 0 0-1 2, J.P. Taylor 1 0 1-2 3, Jon Norris 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-45 17-21 54. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 1-8. Rebounds: 13-17=30 (Waginger 6, Schweickart 5, Edens 4, Lamb 4). Assists: 12 (Schweickart 3, Kochendoerfer 2, Waginger 2). Steals: 13 (Morris, Kochendoerfer, Waginger, Morton 2 each). Turnovers: 13. Blocked shots: 3 (Lamb, Morris, Elliott).

RESERVES: Ironton 34, Gallipolis 32. Ironton scoring: Mason Weisgarber 1, Tres Wilkes 2, Mac Carter 0, Michael Lawless 0, J.P. Taylor 13, Jon Norris 6, Josh Murphy 9, Rob Webb 3. Gallipolis: Corey Eberhard 3, Jordan Cornwell 3, Austin Wilson 8, Ben Robinson 2, Nate Allison 3, Tyler Eastman 7, Chuck Calvert 2, Cody Billings 4.

Freshmen

Gallipolis 8 12 8 8 = 36

Ironton 13 4 12 20 = 49

GALLIPOLIS: Campbell 4, Johnston 11, Young 6, Saunders 5, Bokovitz 2, Amos 10, Long 1.

IRONTON: Michael Lawless 14, Cody Jones 4, Wayne Evans 17, Nolan Johnson 4, Jacob Rawlins 6, John Spencer 0, Schylar Fields 4, Tyler Kratzenberg 2.