Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

COAL GROVE — There was no long, super inspiring halftime speech. In fact, Ironton spent about a minute in the locker room.

The Lady Tigers returned to the court and just began to shoot. And shoot and shoot.

Ironton led the Coal Grove Lady Hornets 22-15 at the half despite shoot just 8-of-38 from the floor, mostly from point blank range.

“What strategy are we going to do? Take an extra half-second. You’re taller than all those girls, so shoot it,” said Ironton coach Doug Graham.

Ironton outscored Coal Grove 20-8 in the third quarter and went on to beat the Lady Hornets 58-43. The Lady Tigers still only shot 16-of-59 for the game or just 27 percent.

Taylor Hannan and Cheyenne Scott led Ironton (4-4) with 16 points each. Scott also had 8 rebounds.

Lexie Barrier had 15 points 17 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists. Macy Wise grabbed 15 rebounds as Ironton held a 55-41 rebound advantage including 29 offensive boards.

“Lexie didn’t shoot well, but she still rebounded a lot and she did everything else,” said Graham.

The other girls played well. Cheyenne Scott had a great game. Taylor Hannan had a great first half. Jordan Hannan had a good all-around game. Macy Wise in the last two games has come around a lot. We need more of that from those girls.”

Coal Grove didn’t shoot any better. The Lady Hornets were 16-of-48 for 33 percent.

Fortunately, Brittany Webb kept the Lady Hornets in the game with a career-high 16 points.

“Brittany Webb had a great game. She’s capable of shooting like that,” said Coal Grove coach Rick Roach. “Their size just hurt us. We got killed on the boards.”

Ironton opened with a 10-2 lead only to have Webb hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the first quarter.

Webb hit an 18-footer to begin the second quarter and added a 12-footer that got Coal Grove within 13-11.

But Taylor Hannan had a layup and then drained a triple to open up an 18-11 lead.

A steal by Barrier led to a layup by Taylor Hannan and it was 22-13. Morgan Sites hit a baseline shot with seven seconds left in the half to get the Lady Hornets within 22-15.

Ironton used a putback by Barrier to grab its biggest lead of the game at 37-17 with 2:16 left in the third quarter. Barrier’s layup closed out the quarter and put the lead at 42-23.

The Lady Hornets began to foul in the fourth quarter and Ironton failed to convert consistently.

A 3-pointer by Leah Crum and a layup by Leslie Mulkey got Coal Grove within 44-34 with 4:14 to play.

But Scott hit a runner from the middle of the lane and a baseline shot by Taylor Hannan off a pass from Wise gave Ironton a 51-38 lead with 3:18 to go.

Ironton converted 9-of-14 from the line over the final 2:19 to settle the outcome.

Ironton 10 12 20 16 = 58

Coal Grove 7 8 8 20 = 43

IRONTON (4-4): Jordan Hannan 1 0 2-2 4, Taylor Hannan 4 2 2-2 16, Lexie Barrier 3 1 6-12 15, Macy Wise 1 0 2-4 4, Cheyenne Scott 2 1 9-16 16, Alyssa Lewis 1 0 1-2 3, Peyton Arden 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-59 22-37 58. 3-point goals: 4-12. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 29-OR, 26-DR = 55 (Barrier 17, Wise 15, Scott 8, J. Hannan 7). Team/deadball rebounds: 4. Assists: 7 (J. Hannan 3, Barrier 2). Steals: 13 (Wise 4, Barrier 3, J. Hannan 3). Turnovers: 14.

COAL GROVE (2-4): Jacy Jones 3 0 3-4 9, Leah Crum 1 1 3-6 8, Leslie Mulkey 1 0 1-2 3, Shae Willis 0 0 0-0 0, Morgan Sites 2 0 0-2 4, Brittany Webb 5 2 0-1 16, Tori Holmes 0 0 0-0 0, Kaylee Beals 0 0 0-0 0, Sydney Conley 0 0 0-0 0, Summer Willis 1 0 1-4 3. Totals: 16-48 8-19 43. 3-point goals: 3-14. Fouls: 25. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 15-OR, 24-DR = 41 (Su. Willis 6, Mulkey 6, Sh. Willis 5). Team/deadball rebounds: 9. Assists: 3 (Jones 2). Steals: 3. Turnovers: 18.