Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

Ironton coach Mark LaFon and Rock Hill coach Sam Gue know each other pretty well. They also knew each other’s team pretty well.
But all that knowledge couldn’t stop the Fighting Tigers as they knew how to beat the Rock Hill Redmen 60-41 in an Ohio Valley Conference game on Friday.
LaFon was an assistant coach at Chesapeake when Gue was playing for the Panthers. LaFon said their association was a factor, but not the determining factor.
Ironton took a 14-9 first quarter lead and then went to work in the second quarter and outscored the Redmen 21-4 to build a 35-13 halftime cushion.
“The first half I had no problem with any of the first half. You’re playing what I call a rivalry because it’s close. There’s going to be some familiarity. Coach Gue knows me. I coached that young man. He knows some things I’m going to do,” said LaFon.
“Our concerns were coming out in the second half. Were we going to try and finish this the right way. I wouldn’t have cared if they made a little run if it was them dong what they were doing and us playing good defense and them making tough shots. We gave them open shots and started turning the ball over. Then we got in a little foul trouble.”
Ryan Bryant hit a 3-pointer and sank two foul shots to end the first quarter and give Ironton its 14-9 lead.
Kyle Adkins hit a triple to start the second quarter and Ethan Wilson’s layup off a pass from Raphael Glover capped a 14-2 run and it was 23-11 with 5:58 left in the half.

Nate Malone’s basket at the 4:36 mark ended the Rock Hill drought, but the Redmen didn’t score again until Mason Darby converted a 3-point play with 3:17 left in the third quarter.
By then, Ironton scored 18 unanswered points to lead 41-13 when Darby finally scored.
But just when it seemed the game was virtually over, the Redmen came to life.
Tyler Damron had a layup and Darby and Tim Adkins hit 3-pointers as Rock Hill trailed 51-26 to end the third quarter.
Adkins hit another 3-pointer and a layup, Darby made a 3-pointer and a put-back and Kadin France a foul shot to cut the deficit to 53-39 with 4:29 to play.
But Wilson made a layup and Bryant converted his own 3-point play and Ironton led 58-39 with 1:47 left.
“There are times when we’re playing that I want kids to learn how to play. You’ve got to let them play to learn. You let it go a couple of possessions and you’re seeing something and you say ‘surely their going to remember the scouting report and we said take 25 (Darby) out or pinch down when he drives,” said LaFon.
“You don’t watch four possessions in a row and you finally get a little fired up and then do some coaching. It frustrates me that he is their guy and we have to be aware of him all the time. As long as we gave him three or four open looks he was OK. “
Bryant had 17 points and 12 rebounds while Wilson had 17 points, 4 assists and 3 steals to pace Ironton (6-3, 2-1). Charlie Large added 8 points and 5 rebounds despite tendonitis in his right knee.
Darby had a game-high 20 points to lead the Redmen (1-8, 0-4). Adkins got 8 points, Jaret Bacorn had 6 rebounds and Darby 5 rebounds.
“Ryan Bryant did a super job on the boards. We have to have that out of him every night. At times he’s getting rebounds over two and three guys,” said LaFon.
“We had three guys hit some outside shots. That helped. If you look through the year, we’ve been a fairly decent shooting team with two or three guys hitting. It’s not just one guy. I’m happy to see that continue.”
In league games on Tuesday, Ironton hosts Chesapeake and Rock Hill visits Coal Grove.
Rock Hill     9    4    13    15    =    41
Ironton       14    21    16    9    =    60
ROCK HILL (1-8, 0-4): Tyler Damron 1 0 2-2 4, Tim Adkins 1 2 0-0 8, Isaac Floyd 0 0 0-0 0, Mason Darby 6 2 2-7 20, Jaret Bacorn 2 0 0-0 4, Jake Blagg 0 0 0-0 0, Logan Hankins 0 0 0-0 0, Tanner Stamper 0 0 0-0 0, Nate Malone 1 0 0-0 2, Cody Roberts 0 0 0-0 0, Logan Reed 0 0 0-0 0, Cameron Barnette 1 0 0-1 2, Kadin France 0 0 1-2 1. Totals: 16-44 5-12 41. 3-point goals: 4-15. Rebounds: 9-O, 14-D = 23 (Bacorn 6, Darby 5). Team/deadball rebounds: 7. Assists: 5 (Adkins 2). Steals: 5 (Damron 2). Turnovers: 13. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None.
IRONTON (6-3, 2-1): Ethan Wilson 6 1 2-2 17, Kyle Adkins 0 2 0-0 6, Joel Blankenship 0 0 0-0 0, Raphael Glover 3 0 0-0 6, Ryan Bryant 4 2 3-3 17, Charlie Large 2 1 1-2 8, Jourdyn Barrow 1 0 0-0 2, Hunter Humphreys 0 0 0-1 0, Trevor Hacker 1 0 0-0 2, Isaiah Dodgion 0 0 0-0 0, Jordan Grizzle 1 00-0 2, Ryan Payne 0 0 0-0 0, Trent Milleson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-49 6-8 60. 3-point goals: 6-14. Rebounds: 11-O, 24-D = 35 (Bryant 12, Glover 5, Large 5). Team/deadball rebounds: 3. Assists: 8 (Wilson 4). Steals: 8 (Wilson 3). Turnovers: 13. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: Glover (4th 4:49).