By JIM WALKER

Tribune Sports Editor

 

JACKSON — Despite dominating the game for more than three quarters, the Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers looked up at the scoreboard and found themselves still in a ball game.

Cold shooting from close-range plagued Ironton all night despite forcing 38 turnovers including 21 steals.

The Lady Tigers saw a 19-point lead in the third quarter dwindle away to just one point in the fourth quarter before some clutch foul shooting by Ariel Schweickart clinched a 37-30 win over the Nelsonville-York Lady Buckeyes on Thursday in the Division III sectional tournament.

“We just can’t put anyone away,” said Ironton coach Doug Graham. “I don’t know how many lay-ups we missed. We left at least 12 points off the board in the first half and 12 more in the second half.”

Ironton made only 11 of 57 field goal attempts for 19.3 percent. The Lady Tigers were 12 of 20 at the foul line including 8 of 16 in the fourth quarter.

“The fourth quarter wasn’t pretty, but we did what we needed to win the ball game,” said Graham. “At this point in the season, it’s win and advance no matter what it looks like.”

Ironton (6-15) now advances to the sectional finals against Lucasville Valley at 6:15 p.m. Saturday at Jackson. Valley beat Ironton 43-38 in a December game.

Schweickart had 13 points and 6 steals while Emily Davis scored 12 points and came up with 4 steals to lead the Lady Tigers. Lexy Washington had 10 rebounds and Alicia Murphy 6 rebounds and 6 steals.

Shelby True had 7 points and 12 rebounds for the Lady Buckeyes (13-8).

Ironton limited N-Y to just four shots in the first quarter but led just 6-2 after making only 2 of 18 shots.

The Lady Tigers used 3-point goals by Murphy, Davis and Schweickart to open up a 17-4 lead and a 12-footer by Washington made it 19-4. Megan Bishop hit a 15-footer for N-Y and it was 19-6 at the half.

A steal and lay-up by Davis pushed Ironton’s lead to 25-6 with 3:40 left in the third quarter but the Lady Buckeyes got within 27-13 at the end of the quarter.

Missed shots and turnovers allowed N-Y to rally and True’s put-back with 2:01 to play cut the deficit to 30-29.

Davis hit the front end of two foul shots and Schweickart was 5 of 8 down the stretch from the line.

Ironton 6 13 8 10 = 37

Nelsonville 2 4 7 17 = 30

IRONTON (6-15): Emily Davis 3 1 3-5 12, Ariel Schweickart 1 1 8-11 13, Karlee McMackin 0 0 0-0 0, Alicia Murphy 1 1 0-0 5, Lexy Washington 2 0 1-2 5, Saige Fields 0 0 0-2 0, Jordan Leach 0 0 0-0 0, Taylor Hannon 0 0 0-0 0, Macy Wise 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 11-57 12-20 37. 3-point goals: 3-15. Rebounds: 16-17=33 (Wise 10, Murphy 6, McMackin 5). Team rebounds: 1. Assists: 2 (Schweickart 2). Steals: 21 (Murphy 6, Schweickart 6, Davis 4). Turnovers: 22. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: Murphy (4th 4:10).

NELSONVILLE-YORK (13-8): Brooke Breeze 1 0 4-4 6, Jennah Addis 0 2 0-3 6, Madison Davis 2 0 1-1 5, Cassidy Dupler 0 0 0-0 0, Shelby True 3 0 1-4 7, Megan Bishop 2 0 0-0 4, Abbie Talbert 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 11-38 6-12 30. 3-point goals: 2-8. Rebounds: 12-32=44 (True 12, four with 5). Team rebounds: 7. Assists: 5 (Breeze 2, True 2). Steals: 8 (Addis 5). Turnovers: 38. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Davis (4th 1:22).