The Ironton Fighting Tigers are like a small child. They like to get their way.

Ironton and the Warren Warriors were in a battle for control of the game’s pace. Warren liked the half-court game while Ironton wanted to push the issue.

Ironton finally got its way.

After a slower pace, half-court game in the first quarter, Ironton finally got the game going to its liking and beat Warren 70-57 Tuesday in a Southeastern Ohio Athletic League game played as one of The Ironton Classic installments.

“It was a case of forcing our will on them instead of them getting control of the game,” said Ironton coach Mark LaFon.

“Once we got the game going up and down, we were able to open up a lead and it was tough for them to catch up.”

Ironton (4-2, 2-0) jumped out to an 8-2 lead before Warren closed to within 15-13 at the end of the quarter on a layup by Brandon Fivecoait.

The Fighting Tigers were up 19-18 when Tommy Waginger buried a 3-pointer, J.P. Taylor made a layup and Tim Kochendoerfer nailed a 17-foot jumper to open up a 26-18 lead with 1:34 left in the half.

Fivecoait made two foul shots at the 1:08 mark to snap the run, but Travis Elliott hit a layup and Waginger’s layup with 22 seconds left extended Ironton’s lead to 30-21 at the break.

Malcolm Morton hit a trey to put Ironton up 33-23 early in the second half and Taylor’s 3-pointer a minute later extended the spread to 38-26.

A layup by Austin Cunningham pulled Warren to within 40-31 with 4:07 on the clock, but Ironton ran off 8 unanswered points to lead 48-31 with 2:18 left in the quarter.

“We got the ball moving and that was the difference,” said LaFon.

Ironton led 52-39 heading into the fourth quarter and kept its double-digit lead until a basket by Cunningham cut the deficit to 62-53.

But Ironton took advantage of its free throw attempts when Warren was forced to foul and converted 6 of 8 over the final 1:47 to seal the win.

Waginger had 19 points while Kochendoerfer got 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead Ironton. Elliott finished with 14 points and 7 boards.

“Tommy was more aggressive taking the ball to the basket and Timmy did a nice job on the boards,” said LaFon. “Elliott is that blue collar guy who goes hard all the time and battles the entire game.”

Grant Venham had 20 points and 5 rebounds for Warren (4-2, 0-2). Cunningham finished with 17 points and Fivecoait had 12 points and 7 rebounds.

Warren 13 8 18 18 = 57

Ironton 15 15 22 18 = 70

WARREN (4-2, 0-2): Grant Venham 8-14 4-5 20, Andrew Lang 0-3 0-0 0, Clay Ellenwood 0-5 0-0 0, Austin Cunningham 7-17 3-7 17, Brandon Fivecoait 4-8 4-4 12, Cameron Cowan 0-0 0-0 0, Jeremy Hastie 2-10 2-2 8, Tyler Ward 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 21-59 13-18 57. 3-point goals: 2-17 (Hastie 2-9, Cunningham 0-5, Ward 0-1, Lang 0-2). Fouls: 21. Fouled out: Venham (4th 1:39), Lang (4th 1:05). Rebounds: 11 offense, 9 defense = 20 (Fivecoait 7, Venham 5). Team rebounds: 3. Assists: 9 (Cunningham 5). Steals: 7 (Cunningham 3, Lang 2). Turnovers: 13.

IRONTON (4-2, 2-0): Malcolm Morton 1-4 0-2 3, Tommy Waginger 6-8 6-6 19, Travis Elliott 5-7 4-5 14, Tim Kochendoerfer 6-14 5-8 18, J.P. Taylor 3-4 2-2 9, Erin Edens 0-1 0-0 0, Zac Carter 3-4 1-4 7, Josh Murphy 0-0 0-0 0, Michael Turner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-42 18-25 70. 3-point goals: 4-8 (Kochendoerfer 1-2, Taylor 1-1, Morton 1-2, Waginger 1-2, Edens 0-1). Fouls: 20. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 10 offense, 30 defense = 40 (Kochendoerfer 11, Elliott 7, Waginger 5). Team rebounds: 5. Assists: 9 (Morton 3, Edens 3, Kochendoerfer 2). Steals: 8 9 (Waginger 3,Carter 2). Turnovers: 24.