SOUTH POINT – If you think the flu bug going around is contagious, just check out the South Point Pointers shooting Tuesday night.

Wednesday, February 07, 2001

SOUTH POINT – If you think the flu bug going around is contagious, just check out the South Point Pointers shooting Tuesday night.

The Pointers were sizzling from the field and it wasn’t a bunch of layups. South Point shots 54.7 percent en route to a 91-60 win over the Ironton Fighting Tigers.

Shane Holsinger had 29 points – 22 the first half – and Jarred Perdue returned from an injury to score 18 points as the Pointers ran their record to 11-6.

Justin Eaches added 13 points and Wilson Ehirim 10.

For the game, the Pointers were 29-of-53 from the floor for 54.7 percent, 11-of-24 from 3-point range for 45.8 percent, and 22-of-26 at the line for 84.6 percent.

"Jarred and Shane were hitting well, and when they were out everyone else stepped up and hit their shots. With those two shooting well, everyone else just fed off them," Pointers coach Mark Lafon said.

Ironton (8-9) was 21-of-59 from the field for 35.6 percent. That included a 1-of-15 shooting the fourth quarter.

"We had good looks and some wide-open shots, even under the basket, but we couldn’t hit them. It was like someone put a lid on the basket," Ironton coach Chris Barnes said.

"And South Point was on fire. It’s hard to play defense that far from the basket and still stop them inside. They weren’t missing. But we have to play better defense. You can’t give up 40 or 50 points a half and expect to win."

Josh Harmon had 18 points and six rebounds to lead Ironton. Tommy Lutz had 15 points and eight rebounds, Drew Mains had 11 points, four assists, and four steals, and Josh Sands had 10 points.

The game was tied 10-10 when Holsinger and Ehirim converted 3-point plays. A 3-pointer by Holsinger and three foul shots by Eaches helped put the Pointers on top 25-16.

Ironton got within 35-34 when Harmon converted a 3-point play with 3:52 left in the half, but the Pointers had a 10-4 run to end the quarter and take a 45-38 halftime lead.

"When we had to shut them off, and we did. When we had to pick up our press, we did. We have never shot the ball that well," Lafon said. ”It took Jarred (Perdue) a quarter but he got his legs back. He let the game come to him."

The Pointers hit three more 3-pointers the third quarter and built a 60-42 lead with 4:45 left in the quarter. But Ironton cut the spread to 66-55 with 57 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Sands. Holsinger countered with a trifecta just before the buzzer and it was 69-55.

Ironton then made just 1-of-15 from the field the fourth quarter as South Point outscored the Fighting Tigers 22-5.

Ironton 16 22 17 5 – 60

So. Point 25 20 24 22 – 91

IRONTON (8-9): Drew Mains 4-6 (1-2) 2-6 11, Josh Sands 3-8 (0-3) 4-7 10, Chris Haney 0-6 (0-0) 1-2 1, Josh Harmon 7-16 (1-3) 3-3 18, Tommy Lutz 5-9 (0-0) 5-8 15, Isaac Hannon 0-7 (0-4) 0-0 0, Andrew Harvey 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Andy Brown 2-5 (0-0) 1-2 5, Craig Lewis 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Ben Murphy 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 21-59 (2-12) 16-28 60. Fouls: 21. Fouled out: Lutz 7:27 4th, Haney 6:00 4th. Rebounds: 17-17=34 (Lutz 8, Haney 7, Harmon 6, Brown 5, Harvey 4). Assists: 11 (Mains 4, Harmon 3, Sands 3). Steals: 9 (Harmon 4, Mains 2, Sands 2). Turnovers: 23. FG% – 35.6. FT% – 57.1. 3pt% – 16.7.

SOUTH POINT (11-6): Justin Eaches 3-7 (0-2) 7-7 13, Brian Cremeans 1-3 (0-2) 4-4 6, Wilson Ehirim 4-7 (2-5) 0-0 10, Shane Holsinger 10-15 (5-8) 4-5 29, Jarred Perdue 6-11 (3-4) 3-4 18, Bryan Maggard 0-1 (0-0) 2-2 2, Willie Anderson 2-3 (0-0) 0-2 4, Donte Pennington 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Adam Workman 1-3 (1-3) 2-2 5, Jonathan Green 1-1 (0-0) 0-0 2, Josh Tibbetts 1-1 (0-0) 0-0 2. Totals: 29-53 (11-24) 22-26 91. Fouls: 27. Fouled out: Anderson 3:06 4th. Rebounds: 5-22=27 (Perdue 8, Ehirim 6, Anderson 5). Assists: 11 (Holsinger 6,Cremeans 2). Steals: 11 (Cremeans 4, Ehirim 3). Turnovers: 20. FG%- 54.7. FT% – 84.6. 3pt% – 45.8.

Junior Varsity: South Point 46, Ironton 44. South Point: Jay Graham 17, Patrick McCleary 9. Ironton: Craig Lewis 14, Kevin Williams 7.