By JIM WALKER

Tribune Sports Editor

The Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers need to remember there are four quarters to a game, not two.

Ironton dominated in the first half but not in the second half as the Lady Tigers beat the Vinton County Lady Vikings 58-44 Saturday in the Ironton Shootout.

“We played pretty well in the first half, but we played about as poorly on defense in the second half as I’ve seen in my five years here,” said Ironton coach Doug Graham.

“Offensively we had the best balance we’ve had all year, but we didn’t play with any intensity on defense.”

Nikki Elswick had 18 points and 18 rebounds to lead Ironton despite being saddled with foul trouble that saw her foul out in the fourth quarter.

Alex Taylor put together 13 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and five steals as Ironton improved to 12-5. Karlee McMackin added nine points and Emily Davis came off the bench to score eight.

Ariel Schweickart also had five assists. Alicia Murphy and McMackin had five rebounds each.

Maranda Hale led Vinton County with 13 points. The Lady Vikings were just 13 of 50 from the field but 7 of 18 from the 3-point line including 5 of 8 in the fourth quarter.

“There were too many times when we just left them standing there wide open,” said Graham.

Ironton jumped out to an 11-0 lead and had a 14-3 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

The Lady Tigers held the Lady Vikings to just four points in the second quarter on one for 11 shooting and built a 25-7 halftime spread as Graham substituted freely.

Ironton did go up 38-16 with 1:56 left in the third quarter after a layup by Elswick, two foul shots by Davis and a putback by Elswick.

The Vikings got the deficit down to 38-23 but McMackin hit back-to-back layups and it was 42-23 at the end of the quarter.

Vinton County (5-10) hit five long 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and chipped away at the lead. A 3-pointer by Hale with one minute left made it 55-44, but Taylor sank two foul shots and Davis made another to clinch the win.

Vinton County 3 4 16 21 = 44

Ironton 14 11 17 16 = 58

VINTON COUNTY (5-10): Caitlyn Owings 2 1 1-2 8, Keshia Griffith 0 0 2-2 2, Megan Dixon 0 1 1-2 4, Maranda Hale 2 2 3-4 13, Kelsey Griffith 1 0 0-0 2, Xan Hale 0 1 3-4 6, Sarah Kingsbury 1 0 0-2 2, Josie Ward 0 0 1-2 1, Donyel Castar 0 2 0-0 6. Totals: 13-50 11-18 44. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 8 offense, 21 defense = 29 (Owings 7). Assists: 3. Steals: 12 (Hale 6, Kel. Griffith 5). Turnovers: 20.

IRONTON (12-5): Alex Taylor 3 0 7-10 13, Nikki Elswick 9 0 0-0 18, Ariel Schweickart 0 1 1-2 4, Karlee McMackin 4 0 1-2 9, Alicia Murphy 3 0 0-0 8, Torie Klaiber 0 0 0-0 0, Kaitlyn Adkins 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-58 13-21 58. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: Elswick (4th 1:30). 3-point goals: 1-7. Rebounds: 17 offense, 34 defense = 51 (Elswick 18, Taylor 10, Schweickart 6). Assists: 9 (Taylor 3, Adkins 2, Schweickart 2). Steals: 14 (Taylor 5, Schweickart 5). Turnovers: 16.