Ironton tried to play it Warren’s way. But coach Mark LaFon didn’t like it, so the Fighting Tigers changed to their rules.

Trailing by eight points after three quarters, Ironton changed the tempo of the game and rallied to beat the Warren Warriors 60-55 on Friday in a Southeastern Ohio Athletic League game.

“We played their game for about two and a half quarters,” said LaFon. “We got on our heels and we weren’t playing aggressive.

“All I wrote on the board at halftime was ‘tempo.’ In the third quarter you could see we were getting into them. We got the tempo in our favor. We stayed with it until it broke loose.”

Warren (8-8, 3-6) took a 47-39 lead at the end of the third quarter after a 15-footer by Clay Ellenwood and a layup by Eric Hoon at the buzzer.

But then Ironton increased its intensity level and forced six turnovers to trigger the comeback.

Johnathon Schweickart and J.P. Taylor hit layups and Tommy Waginger turned a steal into a layup that cut the deficit to 47-45.

Jonathan Hebb followed up a missed shot to give Warren a four-point lead, but Schweickart had two straight baskets and Waginger drained a trifecta and Ironton had a 52-49 lead with 2:17 to play.

Michael Lamb took over down the stretch with a three-point play to put Ironton up 57-55 with 23 seconds left and hit two more foul shots 10 seconds left and it was 59-55. Schweickart’s foul shot with six seconds to go sealed the outcome.

“Tommy Waginger played a really good game for us. He hit some big shots,” said LaFon. “Michael (Lamb) stepped up and took charge. He wanted the ball. And John (Schweickart) controlled the boards.”

Ironton (13-7, 8-3) out-rebounded Warren 36-22 after leading just 19-14 at the half. LaFon said better rebounding in the second half was a factor.

“We had more rebounds at the half, but they were getting every tough rebound, so I got on our guys and then we started to get those rebounds,” said LaFon.

Lamb had a hot hand in the first quarter with nine points including a 3-pointer with just under a minute on the clock that gave Ironton a 19-13 lead.

Andrew Lang’s putback cut Ironton’s lead to19-15 and then Schweickart nailed a 17-footer to put the lead back at four.

Clay Ellenwood hit a shot just before the buzzer to get Warren within 21-17.

Ironton’s offense sputtered in the second quarter. While Warren went on a 10-2 run to begin the quarter Ironton made only 2-of-12 shots.

Ellenwood hit a shot at the buzzer again that put Warren up 29-25 at the break.

Lamb finished with a season-high 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Schweickart had 13 points and 10 rebounds and Waginger also scored 13 points.

Austin Cunningham had 14 points, Grant Venham 13 and Ellenwood 10 to lead Warren.

Ironton 21 4 14 21 = 60

Warren 17 12 18 8 = 55

IRONTON (13-7, 8-3): Tommy Waginger 1 3 2-2 13, Tim Kochendoerfer 3 0 0-0 6, Lukas Morris 0 0 1-2 1, Erin Edens 0 0 0-0 0, Michael Lamb 7 1 6-7 23, Travis Elliott 0 0 0-0 0, Johnathon Schweickart 6 0 1-2 13, Robbie Webb 1 0 0-0 2, J.P. Taylor 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 23-55 10-13 60. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 4-11. Rebounds: 18-18=36 (Schweickart 10, Lamb 8). Assists: xx (xx). Steals: xx (xx). Turnovers: 16.

WARREN (8-8, 3-6): Jonathan Hebb 3 0 0-0 6, Austin Cunningham 5 1 1-2 14, Grant Venham 5 0 3-6 13, Eric Hoon 1 0 0-2 2, Brandon Fivecoat 2 0 1-2 5, Andrew Lang 1 0 0-0 2, Clay Ellenwood 5 0 0-0 10, Devan Anderson 0 1 0-0 3. Totals: 24-48 5-12 55. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 2-10. Rebounds: 9-13=22 (Fivecoat 6, Cunningham 4). Assists: xx (xx). Steals: xx (xx). Turnovers: 14.

RESERVES: Warren 44, Ironton 43.