Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

After the way the Ironton Fighting Tigers played on Friday, one might think they spent the pregame listening to The Beatles singing, “Come Together.”
Displaying a team effort and a swarming defense, Ironton beat the Rock Hill Redmen 69-36 in an Ohio Valley Conference game.
Ironton’s defensive pressure forced 26 turnovers — 19 in the first half — and the Redmen shot just 14-of-45 from the field for 31 percent.
Ironton’s offense was 27-of-56 for 48 percent and had only 10 turnovers.
Charlie Large scored 20 points and had nine rebounds and two steals to pace the Fighting Tigers. Reid Carrico got 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals while Jordan Grizzle had 15 points.
“Defensively, we were good. The energy was good. It was a physical game,” said Ironton coach Mark LaFon.
“(Grizzle) needed that for his confidence. We needed that. Confidence comes from playing together. We shared the ball.”
Rock Hill (3-6, 0-3) was led by Kadin France with another double-double. He had 16 points and 14 rebounds.
It didn’t take long for Ironton to establish its dominance on this night. The Fighting Tigers raced to a 13-0 lead to begin the game and caused 11 turnovers in the quarter.
Leading 14-5 at the end of the first quarter, Ironton went on a 8-2 run to begin the second quarter with Carrico scoring four points and Ethan Wilson and Large getting layups for a 22-7 lead at the 5:21 mark.
Two foul shots by France cut the spread to 23-10 but Wilson made two straight layups and Large turned a steal into an easy layup for a 29-10 lead.
France’s putback made it 29-12 at the break.
Large drained a 3-pointer to start the second half, Grizzle got back-to-back baskets and Carrico sank four foul shots and it was 40-16.
Large then scored four points, Erickson Barnes buried a couple of trifectas and Collin Freeman a foul shot as the lead exploded to 51-16 with 3:04 left in the quarter.
Grizzle knocked down a trey and both he and Carrico had layups to end the quarter with Ironton sitting on a comfortable 59-24 lead.
Ironton played at Huntington on Saturday and hosts Chesapeake on Tuesday. Rock Hill goes to Coal Grove on Tuesday.
Rock Hill 5 7 12 12 = 36
Ironton 14 15 30 10 = 69
ROCK HILL (3-6, 0-3): Logan Hankins 2 0 0-2 4, Garrett Miller 0 0 0-0 0, Jake Blagg 0 0 1-2 1, Braden Samper 1 1 0-0 5, Kadin France 6 0 4-10 16, Owen Hankins 3 0 2-5 8, Caleb Dillon 0 0 0-0 0, Caleb Davis 0 0 0-0 0, Nick Blankenship 0 0 0-1 0, Jacob Schwab 1 0 0-2 2, Cameron Donohue 0 0 0-0 0, Wyatt Brammer 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-45 7-22 36. 3-pt goals: 1-12. Rebounds: 17-O, 20-D = 37 (France 14). Team/deadball rebounds: 6. Assists: 4 (Blagg 2, France 2). Steals: 5 (Schwab 2). Turnovers: 26. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None.
IRONTON (6-3, 2-1): Ethan Wilson 3 0 0-3 6, Jordan Grizzle 5 1 2-5 15, Reid Carrico 4 0 4-4 12, Charlie Large 7 1 3-4 20, Ayden Barnes 1 0 0-0 2, Collin Freeman 0 0 1-2 1, Hunter Humprheys 2 0 0-0 4, Erickson Barnes 1 2 0-0 8, Trent Hacker 0 0 1-2 1, Will York 0 0 0-0 0, Richard Thompson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 27-56 11-20 69. 3-pt goals: 4-12. Rebounds: 13-O, 20-D = 33 (Large 9, Carrico 5, Wilson 5, Humphreys 4). Team/deadball rebounds: 4. Assists: 6 (Carrico 3). Steals: 10 (Large 2, Carrico 2). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None.