Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

The idea was to play a lot of people. It just looked like they were all playing at the same time.

The Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers used its depth and pressure defense to force 26 turnovers including 16 steals as they rolled past the Raceland Lady Rams 70-42 on Saturday.

“Going into the game we felt the key was pressuring them full-court. We wanted to turn them over and get some easy looks,” said Ironton coach Doug Graham.

“We wanted to play a lot of girls and keep everyone rested and we were able to do that.”

Lexie Barrier led Ironton (12-4) with 19 points, eight rebounds, four steals, four assists and two blocked shots. Cheyenne Scott had 12 points and six rebounds in her best offensive output since an ankle injury on Jan. 8 sidelined her for two weeks.

“I didn’t really think about it. I just attacked,” said Scott.

Sydney Webb scored 8 points but had five steals including two key thefts late in the first half that proved pivotal.

Webb said the reason for the defensive success was communication.

“We just talked a lot more out there,” said Webb.

Ironton went on a 9-0 run to start the game before Savannah Cotton hit two foul shots at the 5:32 mark for Raceland.

A layup by Webb and a trifecta by Barrier before the buzzer gave Ironton a 20-7 lead.

The Lady Rams (10-11) got within 25-16 on a baseline shot by Krystal Keeton, but Webb got two quick steals she converted into layups and Barrier’s 10-footer made it 32-18.

Keeton had a putback but Taylor Hannan knocked down a 12-footer with two seconds left and Ironton led 34-20 at the break.

A triple by Barrier and a pair of layups by Lexi Wise opened up a 47-24 lead with 2:57 left in the third quarter.

“We came out like a ball of fire to start the game and then cooled off. But in the second half we looked really good attacking the basket and we were better playing defense,” said Graham.

Scott’s short jumper as time expired extended the lead to 52-27 and she hit a 3-ball and a layup to begin the fourth quarter for a 57-27 lead. D’Laynie Keith made a pair of laypus and Barrier added a 17-footer as Ironton scored 11 unanswered points to lead 63-27 with 4:51 to play.

Mackie led Raceland with 17 points. Cotton had 8 points and seven rebounds and Keeton grabbed six rebounds.

Ironton plays at Wheelersburg on Monday in a 6:30 p.m. varsity-only game.

Raceland 7 13 7 15 = 42

Ironton 20 14 18 18 = 70

RACELAND (10-11): Michelle Vanderhoof 2 0 1-1 5, Savannah Mackie 5 1 6-7 17, Leigh Grubb 0 0 0-0 0, Savannah Cotton 2 0 4-5 8, Krystal Keeton 3 00-0 6, Lauren Runyon 0 0 0-0 0, Lacee Penix 0 0 1-4 1, Holly Bryant 1 0 0-0 2, Ashton Sipps 0 0 1-2 1, Morgan Curley 0 0 0-0 0, Emily Garvin 0 0 0-0 0, Madison Wilburn 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 14-41 13-19 42. 3-point goals: 1-7. Rebounds: 12-off, 18-def. = 30 (Cotton 7, Keeton 6). Team/deadball rebounds: 8. Assists: 2. Steals: 8 (Keeton 2, Vanderhoof 2). Turnovers: 26. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None.

IRONTON (12-4): Jordan Hannan 2 0 2-2 6, Lexi Wise 2 0 2-3 6, Lexie Barrier 6 2 1-2 19, Sydney Webb 4 0 0-0 8, Cheyenne Scott 3 2 0-0 12, Taylor Hannan 3 0 1-2 7, D’Laynie Keith 2 0 1-2 5, Zakia Lee 0 0 1-2 1, Keznie Ashley 2 0 0-0 4, Kaylin Easterling 1 0 0-0 2, Cherokee Alfrey 0 0 0-0 0, Kara Spencer 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 29-53 8-13 70. 3-point goals: 4-16. Rebounds: 10-off. 17-def. = 27 (Barrier 8, Scott 6). Team/deadball rebounds: 3. Assists: 12 (Barrier 4, Wise 3, Webb 2). Steals: 16 (Webb 5, Barrier 4). Blocked shots: 3 (Barrier 2, Wise 1). Turnovers: 15. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None.