Things went from good to bad to worse for the Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers.

Ironton had a lead after the first quarter, but their solid play disappeared the rest of the game as they lost 48-32 on Thursday to the Logan Lady Chieftains in a Southeastern Ohio Athletic League game.

“We started off playing well, but the next three quarters we didn’t do anything right. For some reason we just weren’t in the game mentally,” said Ironton coach Doug Graham.

“Mercedes (Crockrel) was sick and she tried to play, but that was no excuse. No one played well. It was almost like we forgot everything we’ve learned and we’ve been doing all season.”

Ironton (13-6, 9-3) led 11-6 at the end of the first quarter, but the Lady Tigers began feeling the effects of several players being under the weather and the pace began to slow.

Baily Topf and Loryn Cassady hit triples in the second quarter as Logan rallied to take a 15-3 lead. Logan continued to pull away to 23-18 halftime lead.

Hughes had a layup and an 18-footer, and Katie Hoffman, Cassady and Topf all made layups as Logan opened up a 35-22 lead in the third quarter. Ironton scored the final four points of the quarter to trail 35-26.

But Logan scored eight of the first 10 points in the fourth quarter to take a 43-28 lead with just 2:35 to play

“We left a couple of girls wide open and let them get a good look and they made the shots. We just didn’t play very aggressive,” said Graham.

Now the two teams will practice Friday and meet again on Saturday in the “Day of Champions” to determine who finishes third and fourth in the league.

The junior varsity tips off at noon.

The loss enabled Chillicothe to win the South Division outright. The Lady Cavaliers will play Zanesville for the league title.

Brea Tackett led Ironton with nine points and Lorna Ceaser scored eight. Janie Morris had eight rebounds and Cortney Rister four off the bench.

Emilie Hughes had 10 points and Jenna Reynolds nine for Logan (12-7, 7-4).

Ironton 11 7 8 6 = 32

Logan 6 17 12 13 = 48

IRONTON (13-6, 9-3): Mercedes Crockrel 3 0 0-0 6, Alex Taylor 1 0 0-0 2, Brea Tackett 3 1 0-0 9, Janie Morris 2 0 1-2 5, Lorna Ceaser 3 0 2-2 8, Cortney Rister 1 0 0-0 2, Emily Lilly 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-35 3-4 32. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 1-7. Rebounds: 25 (Morris 8, Rister 4). Assists: 8 (Morris 3, Taylor 2). Steals: 5 (Tackett 2, Morris 2). Turnovers: 17.

LOGAN (12-7, 7-4): Kati Klinger 1 0 1-2 3, Abbie Linton 0 0 1-2 1, Loryn Cassady 2 1 0-0 7, Kristy Klingenberg 3 0 1-2 7, Jenna Reynolds 1 1 4-4 9, Emilie Hughes 3 1 1-2 10, Katie Hoffman 2 0 0-0 4, Meghan Hoffman 1 0 0-0 2, Bailey Topf 1 1 0-0 5. Totals: 18-38 8-12 48. Fouls: 7. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 4-11. Rebounds: 18 (K. Hoffman 4). Assists: 10 (Cassady 6, Klingenberg 2). Steals: 11 (Cassady 3). Turnovers: 7.

RESERVES: Logan 43, Ironton 29.