The South Point Lady Pointers don’t like standing around.

The Lady Pointers managed to get their running game going in the third quarter to build a 13-point lead, then held off a furious Ironton rally as they beat the Lady Fighting Tigers 59-50 Tuesday in The Ironton Classic.

South Point led by just 5 points at halftime before opening up as much as a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter.

“We always want it to be an up and down game,” said Lady Pointers’ coach Dave Adams. “We knew going in they had a size advantage and we couldn’t get in a half-court game with them. The first half they did a good job doing that.”

A put-back by Tinesha Taylor gave South Point a 51-35 lead with 4:20 to play.

But Ironton wasn’t about to quit.

Alex Taylor followed up a missed shot and Brea Tackett drained a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 51-40.

Kayla Fletcher scored to give the Lady Pointers a 13-point lead, but Tackett made a layup and converted a 3-point play to make it 53-46 with two minutes left.

Then came a key play. The Lady Tigers came up with a steal but missed a layup. The Lady Pointers used the quick pace to get the ball to Tinesha Taylor on a fastbreak layup and a 55-46 lead with a minute and a half to go.

Adams said the missed layup was a key play.

“The four-point swing stopped their momentum and then we hit some free throws,” said Adams.

“To come back after last night (against Oak Hill) and play a whole game at this pace was big for us.”

Ironton (6-2) was 20 of 41 from the field for 49 percent, but it could have been much better. The Lady Tigers missed more than a dozen shots in the paint.

“We missed a lot layups that would have given us a lead. But we just weren’t very aggressive. We started to let them dictate the pace of the game and we didn’t attack them. When we did, we had some success,” said Ironton coach Doug Graham.

Fletcher had 16 points and Jalynn Bradburn 15 to lead South Point (7-1). Tinesha Taylor had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Tackett led all scorers with 20 points. Alex Taylor had 8 points and 7 rebounds and Nikki Elswick added 8 points and 5 rebounds.

Ironton will host Minford on Monday. South Point doesn’t play until Thursday, Jan. 7, against Chesapeake in a key Ohio Valley Conference game.

South Point 13 11 16 19 = 59

Ironton 6 13 8 23 = 50

SOUTH POINT (7-1): Allison Mitchell 0-0 6-6 6, Kayla Fletcher 6-10 2-5 16, Ashley Goodall 4-8 0-0 8, Jalynn Bradburn 5-13 5-6 15, Tinesha Taylor 5-11 0-1 10, Angelica Stewart 2-3 0-1 4. Totals: 22-45 13-19 59. 3-point goals: 2-9 (Fletcher 2-3, Goodall 0-3, Bradburn 0-2, Stewart 0-1). Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 13 offense, 9 defense = 22 (Taylor 10, Bradburn 5). Team rebounds: 2. Assists: 10 (Fletcher 7). Steals: 12 (Fletcher 4, Taylor 3). Turnovers: 12.

IRONTON (6-2): Rebekkah Potter 2-2 0-0 4, Alex Taylor 3-8 2-3 8, 8, Brea Tackett 8-14 1-1 20, Janie Morris 1-4 1-2 3, Lorna Ceaser 2-7 3-6 7, Nikki Elswick 4-6 0-1 8, Emily Lilly 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-41 7-13 50. 3-point goals: 3-6 (Tackett 3-5, Morris 0-1). Rebounds: 16 offense, 16 defense = 32 (Morris 7, Ceaser 7, Taylor 7, Elswick 5). Team rebounds: 2. Assists: 8 (Taylor 3, Potter 2). Steals: 4 (Tackett 2). Turnovers: 21.