Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

WHEELERSBURG — For the Ironton Fighting Tigers, beating the No. 1-ranked team on the road was as easy as 1-2-3-4.
That’s 1-2-3-4 as in four quarters.
Other than ties of 2-2 and 20-20, Ironton never trailed in handing the currently No. 1-ranked Wheelersburg Pirates a 56-47 loss on Saturday.
“We’ve been talking about playing four quarters of basketball. We’ve played a half which is not good enough. We’ve played three quarters and beat some teams, but let teams hand around. We’ve played three quarters and got beat,” said Ironton coach P.J. Fitch.
“Tonight, we fought hard and that’s a heck of a team we beat. Hats off to my kids.”
Turnovers have been a big problem for Ironton all season, but the Fighting Tigers had a season-low 10 against the Pirates (8-2) who also lost to Waverly on Tuesday.
“We really worked hard on the press. They were there scouting us (Friday) and they’ve seen us at times struggle with pressure. We did a really good job against their box press. That was really the difference. We didn’t turn it over and when we did get an advantage, we did a good job of getting to the rim. That made their coach think and pull off the press.
Ironton (5-4) had four players in double figures led by Jordan Grizzle with 14 points. Gage Salyers had 12 points and 4 assists, Reid Carrico 10 points and 8 rebounds, and Trent Hacker 11 points and 6 rebounds. Trent Milleson added 7 points and 7 boards.
“We just a different team when multiple guys score. We can’t just sit back and watch Reid do his business on the block,” said Fitch.
“He got in foul trouble early in the first quarter and sat the second quarter and we maintained the lead and that gave some of the other kids some confidence. He changes the game. (Opponents) have to double him on the post and that opens stuff up for the other guys.”
After the game was tied 2-2, Ironton got a layup by Carrico to lead 13-8.
Wheelersburg’s Gage Adkins and Ironton’s Gage Salyers traded 3-pointers and Salyers layup just before the buzzer made it 18-13.
Two foul shots by Kenny Sanderlin tied the game at 20 with 3:19 left in the half, but Hacker’s layup and Trent Milleson’s triple made it 25-20.
Baskets by Collin Freeman and Hacker had the lead 29-22 before J.J. Truitt’s layup with five seconds left got the Pirates within 29-24 at the break.
Wheelersburg (8-2) trailed 33-29 after Carter McCorkle’s short jumper, but Salyers hit another trifecta and Grizzle converted a 3-point player after a steal by Salyers and Ironton led 39-29.
A layup by Grizzle gave Ironton its biggest lead at 43-31 before the Pirates scored the final 5 points of the quarter to trail 45-38.
Truitt’s short jumper started the fourth quarter and a 3-pointer by Aaron Jolly cut the deficit to 47-45.
But Carrico’s layup, two foul shots by Grizzle and one by Salyers opened up a 52-45 lead with 1:10 to play.
Hacker’s layup off a pass from Grizzle put the lead at 54-47 and Hacker and Salyers each hit a foul shot over the final 26 seconds to seal the outcome.
Ironton was 21-of-43 from the field for 49 percent but just 10-of-20 at the line including 5-of-11 in the fourth quarter when Wheelersburg was forced to foul.
Wheelersburg was 19-of-56 from the floor 32 percent including just 4-of-18 from 3-point range.
Ironton host Ohio Valley Conference leader Fairland on Tuesday.
Ironton 18 11 16 11 = 56
Wheelersburg 13 11 14 9 = 47
IRONTON (5-4): Gage Salyers 2 2 2-4 12, Trent Hacker 5 0 1-2 11, Jordan Grizzle 4 1 3-4 14, Reid Carrico 3 0 4-6 10, Collin Freeman 1 0 0-2 2, Trent Milleson 2 1 0-2 7, Caleb Hopper 0 0 0-0 0, Landen Wilson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-43 10-20 56. 3-pt goals: 4-11. Rebounds: 8-O, 22=D = 30 Carrico 8, Milleson 7, Hacker 6). Team/deadball rebounds: 2. Assists: 11 (Salyers 4, Grizzle 3). Steals: 5 (Hacker 2). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.
WHEELERSBURG (8-3): Matt Miller 3 0 0-0 6, Carter McCorkle 4 0 0-0 8, J.J. Truitt 5 0 0-0 10, Gage Adkins 0 1 1-2 4, Kenny Sanderlin 2 0 4-4 8, Eli Sworts 1 2 0-0 8, Aaron Jolly 0 1 0-0 3. Totals: 19-56 5-6 47. 3-pt goals: 4-18. Rebounds: 13-O, 17-D = 30 (McCorkle 7, Sanderlin 5). Team/deadball rebounds: 7. Assists: 3. Steals: 6 (Swords 2, Truitt 2). Turnovers: 9. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None.