Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Knowing the future didn’t help.

Ironton coach Doug Graham knew to expect from the Huntington Highlanders. But no matter how you prepare, it’s nothing like the real thing.

Huntington’s fullcourt pressure forced 20 turnovers and the Lady Highlanders also hit six 3-pointers in the first half en route to a 72-35 win over the Lady Fighting Tigers Wednesday.

“We just didn’t take care of the basketball,” said Graham. “Huntington is a very good team. We knew they would come at us with a lot of pressure and we didn’t handle it very well.”

Huntington (4-0) had four players in double figures led by Jordyn Dawson with 15. Lacy Johnson had 14 points and 9 rebounds, Ericka Budd 13 points and 10 rebounds and Dazha Congleton had 13 points.

Lexie Barrier had a game-high 19 points along with 10 rebounds to lead Ironton (4-5).

Ironton led twice early at 2-0 and 3-2, but Budd made a layup to give Huntington the lead for good at the 5:19 mark.

A putback by Macy Wise had Ironton down 6-5, but Johnson drained two long 3-pointers and Congleton also had a triple as the lead grew to 21-7 at the end of the quarter.

“We were in the game early but we missed some easy shots and let the game start to slip away. Then they came with their pressure and we didn’t handle it,” said Graham.

Huntington’s biggest lead came at the break after a layup by Johnson and a long 3-pointer by Lexi Sheffield made it 42-17.

A 3-point play by Barrier at the 6:44 mark of the third quarter cut Huntington’s lead to 46-20. But Ironton didn’t score again until Barrier made a foul shot at the 1:51 mark. Barrier had all 8 of Ironton’s points in the quarter and it was 59-25.

Ironton hosts Pickerington at 12:45 p.m. Saturday in The Ironton Classic.

Ironton 7 10 8 10 = 35

Huntington 21 21 17 13 = 72

IRONTON (4-5): Jordan Hannan 0 0 1-2 1, Taylor Hannan 0 0 0-0 0, Lexie Barrier 5 1 6-13 19, Macy Wise 2 0 1-2 5, Cheyenne Scott 1 0 0-1 2, Alyssa Lewis 4 0 0-0 8. Totals: 13-49 8-18 35. 3-point goals: 1-9. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 16-OR, 13-DR = 29 (Barrier 10, Wise 6). Team/deadball rebounds: 6. Assists: 3 (Scott 2). Steals: 4. Turnovers: 20.

HUNTINGTON (4-0): Lacy Johnson 3 2 2-2 14, Lexi Sheffield 1 2 0-0 8, Dazha Congleton 3 2 1-2 13, Jordyn Dawson 9 0 5-8 15, Ericka Budd 6 0 1-2 13, Kearsta Turner 0 0 0-0 0, Dominique Murphy 1 0 0-0 2, Mariah Harmon 1 0 0-0 2, Bethany Taylor 1 0 0 0-0 2, Hikaru Inagaki 0 1 0-1 3. Totals: 28-66 9-15 72. 3-point goals: 7-18. Rebounds: 26-OR, 25-DR = 51 (Dawson 11, Budd 10, Johnson 9). Team/deadball rebounds: 7. Assists: 4 (Johnson 2). Steals: 14 (Dawson 4, Johnson 4). Turnovers: 15.