Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

There was good news and bad news and more good news.
The good news was the third quarter. The bad news was the fourth quarter. And, finally, the more good news was a win.
Ironton used a big third quarter to take a nine-point lead, then nearly squandered it in the fourth quarter on 5-of-11 foul shooting.
But in the end, the Lady Fighting Tigers found a way to win as they beat the Fairland Lady Dragons 52-47 in an Ohio Valley Conference game on Thursday.
Ironton is 6-8 and 6-3 in the OVC. The loss knocked Fairland (10-3) out of a first-place tie into second place at 6-2 and ended a 10-game winning streak.
“We had a great third quarter. We need to do a better job knocking down our foul shots. All in all, it was a good game. I was proud of the girls,” said Ironton coach Doug Graham.
“Lydia (Hannan) made a lot of smart plays. She had things that won’t show up in the stat book. Elli (Williams) did a good job handling the ball.”
Riley Schreck had a game-high 18 points to lead Ironton. Haylee Stevens scored 12 points on four 3-pointers and Samantha LaFon added 11 points and eight rebounds.
Hannan had seven rebounds and four assists, Williams seven assists and Stevens two steals.
Allie Marshall got 17 points for Fairland while Harley Lyons scored 13 points. Kelsie Warnock had eight rebounds and Jenna Stone five.
Marshall made two foul shots to start the game for Fairland but Schreck made sank two foul shots, Williams and Hannan had layups and Schreck knocked down an 18-footer as Ironton went on an 8-0 run to take the lead.
A 3-pointer by Stevens put Ironton up 11-7 before Jessica King’s basket cut the difference to 11-9. LaFon’s layup gave Ironton a 13-9 lead at the end of the quarter.
Marshall’s layup tied the game at 13 starting the second quarter but LaFon and Schreck had layups and Ironton led 17-13.
Stone and Marshall hit 3-pointers to give Fairland a 19-17 lead but Stevens’ trifecta sent Ironton back on top at 20-17. Brittany Thompson hit a triple for the Lady Dragons only to have Stevens drain a trey and Williams turned a steal into a layup and it was 25-22.
But Lyons’ 3-pointer made it a 25-25 game at the half.
LaFon and Marshall traded layups to begin the second half but Stevens and Schreck both went deep and it was 33-27 at the 4:12 mark.
A free throw by Marshall cut the deficit to 35-30, but a layup by Jada Rogers and a putback and a layup by LaFon opened up a 41-30 lead with 1:20 on the clock.
Marshall had back-to-back layups as Fairland got within 41-32 but Rogers’ short jumper made it 43-34 to end the quarter.
A free throw by LaFon and a three-point play by Schreck stretched Ironton’s lead to 47-34 and another layup by Schreck gave Ironton its biggest lead at 49-34 with 4:11 to play.
Fairland got two foul shots by Kelsie Warnock and a 3-pointer by Stone made it 49-39.
The Lady Dragons began to foul and Ironton was unable to convert. Two baskets by Lyons closed the gap to 50-47 with 41 seconds to go.
Ironton finally ended the 13-1 run by the Lady Dragons as Schreck hit two foul shots with 32 seconds left that virtually sealed the outcome.
Ironton is at Gallipolis on Monday. Fairland hosts Tri-State Hoops on Saturday and goes to first place Coal Grove on Monday.
Fairland 9 16 9 13 = 47
Ironton 13 12 18 9 = 52
FAIRLAND (10-3, 6-2): Harley Lyons 3 2 1-2 13, Allie Marshall 6 1 2-4 17, Kelsie Warnock 1 0 2-5 4, Brittany Thompson 0 1 0-0 3, Jenna Stone 0 2 0-0 6, Emma Marshall 1 0 0-2 2, Jessica King 1 0 0-2 2, Mia Howard 0 0 0-0 0, Bailey Rowland 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-52 5-15 47. 3-pt goals: 6-30. Rebounds: 13-O, 13-D = 26 (A. Marshall 5, Warnock 5, Stone 5). Team/deadball rebounds: 5. Assists: 15 (Warnock 5). Steals: 8 (A. Marshall 3, Warnock 2). Turnovers: 8. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Warnock (4th 1:23).
IRONTON (6-8, 6-3): Riley Schreck 5 1 5-7 18, Lydia Hannan 1 0 0-0 2, Elli Williams 2 0 1-3 5, Haylee Stevens 0 4 0-0 12, Jada Rogers 2 0 0-0 4, Samantha LaFon 5 0 1-4 11, Abigail Patterson 0 0 0-0 0, Kameren Arden 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-35 7-14 52. 3-pt goals: 5-11. Rebounds: 7-O, 23-D = 30 (LaFon 8, Hannan 7). Team/deadball rebounds: 4. Assists: 13 (Williams 7, Hannan 4). Steals: 4 (Stevens 2). Turnovers: 17. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.