Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

Marques Davis can take the good with the bad, but he really likes the good days.

Davis had one of his better shooting nights as he helped propel the Ironton Fighting Tigers to a 49-32 Ohio Valley Conference win over the South Point Pointers on Tuesday.

After South Point took a 4-0 lead to start the game, Davis buried three straight 3-point goals and his layup off a nice pass from Desmond Young gave Ironton a lead it never relinquished at 11-4 with 3:14 left in the first quarter.

“I was just feeling, I guess. I’ve had bad shooting days for the past couple of games, so I guess it just kind of came to me this game,” said Davis who had 14 of his 17 points in the first half.

“I just didn’t shoot as much (in the second half) and we ran some time off the clock.”

Coach Mark LaFon said Davis gave Ironton just what it needed.

“It didn’t hurt that Davis came out and hit those three 3s. That helps. But when teams are playing zone, you’ve got to shoot the ball,” said LaFon.

“Somebody has to, not everybody. You can have a lot of shooters but you have to have people who can make them and he’s a guy who can make them for us.”

A 3-pointer by Tayshaun Fox and a layup by Tanner Hall got the Pointers within 13-9 at the end of the quarter.

But the Fighting Tigers held South Point to just four points in the second quarter as they took a 25-13 lead at the break.

Davis hit another trifecta, Raphael Glover scored all five of his points and Ethan Wilson’s layup with an assist from Ryan Bryant just before the buzzer opened up the 12-point cushion.

“We held them to something like six points for over a quarter and a half and I thought that was the whole tale of the game for putting us in position to win,” said LaFon.

Wilson was the spark in the third quarter with six points and a pass by Davis led to a layup by Bryant to make it 39-21 at the end of the quarter.

A steal by Hunter Humphreys led to a layup by Wilson as Ironton took its biggest lead at 45-23 with 4:28 to play.

Ironton shot 17-of-38 from the field and 11-of-14 from the foul line. The Fighting Tigers also had just six turnovers and limited South Point to five offensive rebounds — four of which were balls that were knocked out of bounds.

“We felt like they’d try to be very aggressive with us and feel like they had to match our physicality. We just said we have to play a certain way and play through it,” said LaFon.

“I thought our kids did a good job with the things I’ve had the biggest concern with: free throws, turnovers and rebounds. I thought those three things they did an excellent job taking care of those and, of course, that in turn looks like pretty good play.”

Fox led the Pointers (3-7, 3-3) with 13 points. Jared Whitt added nine points and Hall had four rebounds.

The Pointers were just 11-of-32 from the field. They had only 11 turnovers but six came in the second quarter.

On Friday, Ironton visits Coal Grove and South Point hosts Rock Hill in OVC games.

South Point 9 4 8 11 = 32

Ironton 13 12 14 10 = 49

SOUTH POINT (3-7, 3-3): Tayshaun Fox 2 2 3-4 13, Elijah Adams 0 0 0-0 0, Tanner Hall 3 0 0-0 6, Jared Whitt 2 1 2-2 9, Caleb Eplion 0 0 0-0 0, Cade Brandt 0 0 0-0 0, Logan Wade 0 0 0-0 0, Cody Runyon 1 0 2-2 4, Caleb Penington 0 1 0-0 3. Totals: 11-32 7-8 32. 3-point goals: 3-16. Rebounds: 5-O, 13-D = 18 (Hall 4). Team rebounds: 5. Assists: 6 (Fox 2, Runyon 2). Steals: 2 (Fox 2). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None.

IRONTON (5-6, 2-3): Phil Kratzenberg 2 0 1-1 5, Marques Davis 2 4 1-2 17, Desmond Young 0 0 0-0 0, Ryan Bryant 2 0 5-6 9, Tyler Webb 0 0 0-0 0, Ethan Wilson 5 0 3-4 13, Ty Gunther 0 0 0-0 0, Hunter Humphreys 0 0 0-0 0, Raphael Glover 2 0 1-1 5, Hunter Klaiber 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-38 11-14 49. 3-point goals: 4-9. Rebounds: 10-O, 14-D = 24 (Davis 6, Webb 5). Teams rebounds: 3. Assists: 12 (Young 3, Wilson 3). Steals: 7 (Kratzenberg 2, Wilson 2). Turnovers: 6. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None.