Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

PEDRO — And a child shall lead them.
No, this isn’t a reading from Isaiah 11:16. This is about Ironton Fighting Tigers’ freshman Reid Carrico who’s big second half rallied his team to a 41-35 Ohio Valley Conference win over the Rock Hill Redmen on Friday.
Carrico led all scorers with 19 points — 15 in the second half — and grabbed seven rebounds. Kyle Adkins had 11 points and Charlie Large got seven points and eight rebounds.
“We don’t play well out here, that’s for sure,” said Ironton coach Mark LaFon. “Carrico played well. I like to compliment individuals who did well and Ayden Barnes did a nice job.
“Defensively, we didn’t do a good job of being aggressive. We didn’t do that for two and a half quarters. We didn’t do a good job blocking out (rebounding).”
Braden Stamper led Rock Hill (0-9, 0-3) with 15 points while France had 10 points and six rebounds. Jaret Bacorn had eight points and eight rebounds.
The offense was slow and limited in the first half.
Ironton’s biggest lead was 11-8 in the first quarter after a layup by Adkins at the 1:05 mark but Rock Hill tied the game on a 3-pointer by Stamper to end the quarter.
Adkins hit a trifecta with 5:34 left in the first half and it was 14-11. Rock Hill answered with a layup by Bacorn and two foul shots by France as the Redmen took their first lead at 15-14 with 2:23 on the clock.
Trent Milleson put Ironton up with a layup only to have Stamper hit another 3-pointer and the Redmen led 18-16 at the half.
Carrico — who sat most of the first half with two early fouls — scored to start the second half and tie the game and his putback shot made it 20-18.
Logan Reed’s layup tied the game for Rock Hill but baskets by Large and Carrico made it 24-20.
Carrico hit a 17-footer as Ironton went up 30-24 and then France ended the quarter with a layup and it was 30-26.
Carrico had 10 of Ironton’s 14 points in the quarter.
Layups by Large and Collin Freeman and a putback by Carrico helped Ironton open up a 36-28 lead.
A layup by Bacorn got Rock Hill within 37-32 with 1:03 left but Carrico hit a layup for a 39-32 lead.
Stamper made his second long 3-pointer with 39 seconds to go. Carrico answered with a pair of foul shots and a 41-35 lead and Ironton held on for the win.
The Fighting Tigers (3-6, 1-2) hurt themselves by making just 3-of-11 free throws and they were guilty of 13 turnovers — nine in the second half.
Rock Hill was 13-of-39 from the field and only 6-of-15 at the foul line with 15 turnovers.
On Tuesday, Ironton is at Chesapeake and Rock Hill hosts Coal Grove.
Ironton       11    5    14    11    =    41
Rock Hill    11    7    8    9    =    35
IRONTON (3-6, 1-2): Ethan Wilson 0 0 0-0 0, Joel Blankenship 0 0 0-1 0, Kyle Adkins 3 1 2-2 11, Charlie Large 2 1 0-1 7, Reid Carrico 9 0 1-5 19, Ayden Barnes 0 0 0-0 0, Hunter Humphreys 0 0 0-0 0, Trent Milleson 1 0 0-0 0, Ryan Payne 0 0 0-0 0, Collin Freeman 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 18-46 3-11 41. 3-pt goals: 2-11. Rebounds: 15-O, 20-D = 35 (Large 8, Carrico 7). Team rebounds: 8. Assists: 6 (Wilson 3). Stelas: 8 (Large 2, Adkins 2). Turnovers: 13. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None.
ROCK HILL (0-9, 0-3): Jake Blagg 0 0 0-0 0, Logan Hankins 0 0 0-2 0, Braden Stamper 2 3 2-6 15, Jaret Bacorn 3 0 2-2 8, Kaden France 4 0 2-5 10, Logan Reed 1 0 0-0 2, Garrett Miller 0 0 0-0 0, Cody Roberts 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-39 6-15 35. 3-pt goals: 3-8. Rebounds: 6-O, 17-D = 23 (Bacorn 8, France 6). Team rebounds: 4. Assists: 3. Steals: 8 (Blagg 5). Turnovers: 15. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.