Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

When things go wrong, it’s human nature to give an excuse. Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers’ coach Doug Graham is human, but he’s not a big fan of excuses.
With starters Lexie Arden, Samantha LaFon and Lydia Hannan all out for various reasons and then lost Kameren Arden to an ankle sprain in the first quarter.
The short-handed Lady Tigers then suffered a 41-28 loss to the Warren Lady Warriors on Saturday in the annual Ironton Classic.
But Graham likened the situation to someone losing their job and still needing to pay their bills. He said you find a way. He said his team didn’t find a way against Warren.
“You still have to come out and perform and we didn’t do that. In 32 minutes, we played maybe nine minutes in the second half,” said Graham.
Ironton (4-4) was its own worst enemy with 24 turnovers.
“We’ve been turning it over a lot.,” said Graham.
Warren (4-3) had only six turnovers in the first half but finished with 16. The Lady Warriors shot 14-of-47 from the field for 30 percent.
Ironton was just 9-of-33 from the floor for 27 percent.
The lead changed hands four times in the first quarter before a 3-pointer by Warren’s Moly Grayson made it 9-5.
A steal and layup by Olivia Alloway ut the lead at 11-5 but Haylee Stevens drained a trifecta and added a foul shot to get Ironton within 11-9.
But Warren began to pull away and a layup by Sommer Saboley to end the half put the lead at 23-13.
Riley Schreck buried a trey to begin the second half as Ironton trailed 23-16. But Grayson’s triple started a 14-0 run and it was 37-16 with 3:02 left in the third quarter.
A free throw by Abbie Smith gave Warren its biggest lead of the game at 38-17 with 1:20 on the clock. Schreck scored to make it 38-19 heading into the fourth quarter.
Warren was just 1-of-9 from the field in the fourth quarter and Ironton got within 38-28 on an 18-footer by Elli Williams with 1:55 to play.
But Ironton’s offense also went cold along with several turnovers as Warren held on to win.
Schreck had 11 points and Stevens nine for Ironton.
The Lady Warriors got 13 points form Alloway and 12 from Grayson.
Ironton will host Athens at 5 p.m. on Friday in a game originally scheduled for Saturday.
Warren 9 14 15 3 = 41
Ironton 5 8 6 9 = 28
WARREN (4-3): Olivia Alloway 3 2 1-2 13, Sommer Saboley 1 0 3-4 5, Molly Grayson 2 2 2-2 12, Caspen Ford 1 0 2-2 4, Millie Ryan 0 0 0-0 0, Abbie Smith 1 0 1-2 3, Madison Miller 1 0 0-0 2, Andrea Place 0 0 0-0 0, Savannah Banks 1 0 0-0 2, Leah Way 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-47 9-12 47. 3-pt goals: 4-18. Rebounds: 10-O, 18-D = 28 (Alloway, Grayson, Ford, Smith 4 each). Assists: 5 (Saboley 3). Steals: 11 (Alloway 4, Ford 3). Turnovers: 16. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.
IRONTON (4-4): Riley Schreck 4 1 0-0 11, Elli Williams 1 0 0-0 2, Haylee Stevens 0 2 3-4 9, Jada Rogers 0 0 4-10 3, Abbey Patterson 0 0 0-2 0, Sophie Caines 1 0 0-0 2, Kameren Arden 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 9-33 7-16 28. 3-pt goals: 3-13. Rebounds: 7-O, 24-D = 31 (Rogers 6, Patterson 6). Assists: 4. Steals: 7 (Williams 4). Turnovers: 24. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None.