Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

WAVERLY — The best way to have a chance against the Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers is to get them to relax.

Unfortunately, they only seem to relax once they build a big lead.

Ironton dominated the Huntington Lady Huntsmen early and then coasted to a 73-42 rout on Monday in the Division III district semifinals at the Waverly downtown arena.

The Lady Tigers built a 30-4 lead midway through the second quarter and then fought through the loss of intensity to win easy and remain unbeaten.

Ironton coach Doug Graham admitted he experimented with the defense in the second half.

“I wanted to guard in the halfcourt in the second half and work on things we need to get better on,” said Graham.

“The second half we got a little complacent, got satisfied with our lead and kind of let them get into their flow a little bit.”

That wasn’t the case from the outset.

Two layups by Lexie Wise and a 3-pointer by Jordan Hannan got Ironton off to a 7-0 lead.

A layup by Kennedy DeBord at the 6:11 mark proved to be the only points of the quarter for Huntington.

The Lady Tigers 16-0 run to end the quarter and take a commanding 24-2 lead.

Ironton forced the Lady Huntsmen into 13 first quarter turnovers and 17 of 24 in the half. Huntington was only 1-of-6 from the field in the first quarter.

“They were locked in. Our practices have been great. Mentally they were locked in. They played phenomenal the first 16 minutes. I just wished we could have played it for 32 (minutes),” said Graham.

A putback by Hannan and a foul shot by Lexie Barrier gave Ironton a38-7 lead with 53 seconds left in the half. A layup by Ariel Sams left Huntington down 39-11 at the half.

Sams’ layup just before the end of the third quarter got the Lady Huntsmen the closest they had been since early in the game at 52-27.

The Lady Tigers led by as many as 33 points in the fourth quarter.

Cheyenne Scott had 19 points and nine rebounds to lead Ironton. Wise had 17 points, four assists and four steals while Barrier contributed 15 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots.

Ironton (24-0) will play North Adams at 8 p.m. on Saturday for the district championship.

Graham said his team is anxious to play again.

“They’re loose but they’re focused. In practice they come in and practice hard, but in the locker room they’re laughing. We’re not talking about (Monday’s game), we’re talking about the next game. We focused on trying to get better,” said Graham.

Dylana Gragg had nine points and seven rebounds for Huntington (16-8).

Hunt. Ross 2 9 16 15 = 42

Ironton 24 15 13 21 = 73

CHILLICOTHE HUNTINGTON (16-8): Dylana Gragg 4 0 1-3 9, Carolane Cox 0 0 3-4 3, Kennedy DeBord 3 0 0-1 6, Ariel Sams 3 0 1-4 7, Jillian Snyder 0 1 0-0 3, Shyanne Conley 0 0 0-0 0, Rikki Magill 0 1 0-0 3, Brookelyn Neighbors 0 2 0-0 6, Braiden Collins 0 0 0-0 0, Riley Black 1 0 0-0 2, Kailey Hurley 0 0 0-0 0, Kelsey McDonald 0 1 0-0 3, Abby Payne 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-46 5-12 42. 3-point goals: 5-23. Rebounds: 11-O, 14-D = 25 (Gragg 7, DeBord 5). Team rebounds: 8. Assists: 3 (Cox 2). Steals: 7 (Cox 4). Turnovers: 24. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: None.

IRONTON (24-0): Jordan Hannan 2 1 0-0 7, Lexie Wise 5 0 7-9 17, Lexie Barrier 4 1 4-7 15, Sydney Webb 1 0 0-0 2, Cheyenne Scott 6 1 4-6 19, Alyssa Lewis 2 1 2-6 9, D’Laynie Keith 1 0 0-0 2, Zakia Lee 1 0 0-0 2, Kaylin Easterling 0 0 0-0 0, Haylee Stevens 0 0 0-0 0, Katie Boyer 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-53 17-28 73. 3-point goals: 4-10. Rebounds: 19-O, 22-D – 41 (Barrier 9, Scott 9, Wise 4, Webb 4, Keith 4, Lee 4). Team rebounds: 2. Assists: 13 (Wise 4, Webb 3). Steals: 10 (Barrier 2, Wise 2, Webb 2). Blocks: 7 (Barrier 4, Scott 2, Wise 1). Turnovers: 16. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None.