MARIETTA — Ironton’s basketball team used an Ironton football team philosophy against the Marietta Tigers.

Instead of passing the ball to score, Ironton took a more aggressive, physical approach as the Fighting Tigers knocked off Marietta 61-37 Friday in a Southeastern Ohio Athletic League game.

“In a physical game, you’re not going to make that extra pass. You’re going to have to be strong going up so you won’t see a lot of assists. We expected it to be physical and we did a good job taking the ball strong to the basket,” said Ironton coach Mark LaFon.

Ironton not only played physical on offense but strong on defense as well. The Fighting Tigers forced 20 turnovers and held Marietta to 38 percent shooting.

“We did a good job of speeding them up and causing them to miss shots. Our defense played really well,” said LaFon.

Ironton’s win sets up a huge SEOAL showdown Tuesday as the Fighting Tigers (8-2, 5-0) host Portsmouth.

The Trojans got a boost on Friday as Tory Horne and center Dion McKinley both became eligible. Both played and helped Portsmouth beat Logan 88-76 to make them 5-1 in the league and 6-3 overall.

“These two games are big, but we have to take care of Tuesday first or Friday doesn’t mean as much,” said LaFon. “If we lose, everyone has a loss. Right now we can control our own destiny.”

Tim Kochendoerfer had 17 points and 7 rebounds for Ironton. Tommy Waginger had 14 points and 4 assists and J.P. Taylor 14 points and 7 rebounds.

Marietta (2-7, 0-4) did not have a player in double figures.

The strong performance was a relief to LaFon who was concerned about the team’s 10-day layoff since its last game.

“One of things I was concerned about myself was our rust. We showed a little rust in the first quarter defensively. But we got adjusted and took care of that,” said LaFon.

Perry Wheeler hit a 3-pointer to give Marietta a 3-0 lead, but it was their only lead of the game as Ironton went on a 7-0 run that included a put-back by Travis Elliott and a trey and layup by Waginger.

A layup by Conner Hess had Marietta down 14-11. A 15-footer by Kochendoerfer and layups by Erin Edens and Taylor stretched Ironton’s lead to 20-13 at the end of the quarter.

A layup by Kochendoerfer off a pass from Malcolm Morton put Ironton up 25-15.

Marietta got within 25-19 on a layup by Morgan Wynn midway through the second quarter. Ironton answered with a put-back by Taylor and a layup by Zac Carter and it was 29-19.

The Fighting Tigers closed the half with a 10-1 run and it was 39-22 at the break.

In the third quarter, Waginger drained a 3-pointer that put Ironton up 48-28 and hit a layup just before the end of the quarter put the lead at 50-30.

Ironton 20 19 11 11 = 61

Marietta 13 9 8 7 = 37

IRONTON (8-2, 5-0): Malcolm Morton 10 0-0 2, Tommy Waginger 3 2 2-4 14, Travis Elliott 2 0 0-0 4, Tim Kochendoerfer 8 0 1-1 17, J.P. Taylor 5 1 1-3 14, Erin Edens 1 0 0-0 2, Zac Carter 2 0 0-0 4, Josh Murphy 1 0 2-2 4, Jonathan Norris 0 0 0-0 0, Charles Stewart 0 0 0-0 0, Michael Turner 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-61 6-10 61. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: Morton (4th 5:50). 3-point goals: 3-11. Rebounds: 11 offense, 17 defense = 28 (Taylor 7, Kochendoerfer 7, Edens 5). Assists: 11 (Waginger 4, Morton 3, Carter 2). Steals: 7 (Kochendoerfer 2, Morton 2). Turnovers: 12.

MARIETTA (2-7, 0-4): Tyler Davis 3 0 0-0 6, Perry Wheeler 1 1 0-3 5, Adam Arnold 1 0 0-1 2, Tim Grosel 0 0 1-4 1, Conner Hess 3 0 2-4 8, Chris Stollar 1 0 0-0 2, Nathan Williams 1 0 0-0 2, Cory Kriechbaum 1 0 0-0 2, Keith Schwendeman 0 0 0-0 0, Morgan Wynn 4 0 0-1 8, Matt Thompson 0 0 0-0 0, Wes Riley 0 0 1-2 1, Jon Sewell 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-42 4-15 37. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 1-12. Rebounds: 7 offense, 1 defense = 23 (Williams 6, Hess 5). Assists: 5 (Wynn 2, Grosel 2). Steals: 4 (Arnold 2). Turnovers: 20.