Better check that sight on the gun.

Wednesday, January 17, 2001

Better check that sight on the gun. I think it’s crooked. When the Ironton Fighting Tigers took aim Tuesday night they kept misfiring, especially when the game was on the line.

Ironton was just 16-of-50 from the field for 32 percent. It proved even more costly down the stretch when the Fighting Tigers got within one point with five minutes to play, then scored just two points the rest of the way in losing 47-40 to the Ashland Tomcats.

"I can’t fault our effort," Ironton coach Chris Barnes said. "We played hard and we played great defense, but we need to come up with the big shot when we need it.

"We just have to put the ball in the basket. Right now the basket looks like a pea. We’re better shooters than we’re showing. We need to get our confidence back."

Drew Mains hit a baseline jumper with 5:02 left in the game that got Ironton within 39-38.

Ashland (7-6) stretched the lead to 41-38 on an 18-footer by Josh Cook and then Arliss Beach hit a 15-footer for a 43-38 lead with 1:56 left.

Brian Stewart’s layup added to the Ashland lead. Ironton did score again until Josh Sands made two foul shots with 12 seconds left after a technical foul was called when Mark Surgalski who hung on the rim after a failed dunk attempt.

Down 45-40, Ironton failed on two shots in close and Cook was fouled and made two free throws with two seconds left to set the final score.

Sands led Ironton (6-5) with 12 points. Chris Haney had eight points and 12 rebounds while Drew Mains handed out five assists.

Ashland 10 14 11 12 – 47

Ironton 11 5 14 10 – 40

ASHLAND (7-6): Josh Cook 3-7 (0-2) 2-2 8, Arliss Beach 6-16 (2-6) 1-4 15, Zach Davis 2-4 (0-1) 0-0 4, Matt Collins 2-6 (0-0) 2-2 6, Ryne Salyer 2-4 (1-3) 1-2 6, Jay Stewart 2-5 (0-1) 1-2 5, Grant Haeberle 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Brian Stewart 1-4 (0-0) 0-2 2. Totals: 18-55 (3-12) 8-16 47. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 10-24=34 (Surgalski 10, Stewart 6,, Collins 5). Team/deadball rebounds: 2. Assists: 4. Steals: 13 (Surgalski 4, Beach 3). Turnovers: 15. FG% – 32.7. FT% – 50.0. 3pt% – 25.0.

IRONTON (6-5): Drew Mains 2-14 (0-3) 0-0 4, Josh Sands 4-10 (2-4) 2-2 12, Josh Haney 4-8 (0-0) 0-5 8, Josh Harmon 2-9 (0-2) 0-0 4, Tommy Lutz 2-3 (0-0) 3-4 7, Derique Bacon 1-2 (0-0) 1-1 3, Ben Murphy 1-3 (0-0) 0-0 2, Andrew Harvey 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Andy Brown 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 16-50 (2-9) 6-12 40. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: Haney (5:38), Lutz (1:31). Rebounds: 12-25=37 (Haney 12, Harmon 7, Mains 5, Lutz 5). Team/deadball rebounds: 1. Assists: 8 (Mains 5, Sands 2). Steals: 4 (Haney 2, Harmon 1, Lutz 1). Turnovers: 21. FG% – 32.0. FT% – 50.0. 3pt% – 22.2.

Junior Varsity: Ashland 54,Ironton 34. Ashland: Billy Hendrickson 20, Jeremy Howell 11. Ironton: Kevin Williams 7, Nick Collins 6, Craig Lewis 6.