Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

So which one do you want, the tarantula or the rattle snake?

The Ashland Kittens decided to focus their defense on shutting down Sydney Webb. As a result, Cheyenne Scott went crazy.

In a “pick your poison” type of game, Scott scored 22 points to help lead the Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers to a 75-63 win over Ashland in the 8th annual Ironton Classic on Tuesday.

“They face-guarded Sydney wherever she went. When they face-guard her, you’ve got to set screens because the girl who is face-guarding her isn’t going to leave so you’re going to create openings for other players and for the most part we did that tonight,” said Ironton coach Doug Graham.

While Scott benefited from the strategy against Webb, Lexie Barrier put together a monster game with 30 points 14 rebounds and two steals.

Lexie Wise added 9 points and 6 rebounds for Ironton (8-0).

Mykassa Robinson had a huge game for Ashland (4-4) with 26 points and 6 rebounds. Rachel Barton scored 18 points and Madeline Garner added 12.

Ironton never trailed in the game that was tied just once at 2-2.

Barrier scored 9 points in the first quarter and Scott added 5 more as Ironton took a 20-17 lead.

A 3-pointer by Robinson got Ashland within 22-20 with 6:28 on the second quarter clock.

The Lady Tigers opened up a 42-29 lead on a trifecta by Webb with 1:44 left in the half. Ashland cut the deficit to 42-34 after a triple by Garner.

But Scott hit a 3-pointer just before the end of the half and Ironton led 45-34 at the break.

“I wanted make sure I got out there and got it done. I wanted to make sure we beat them. I just took it to the hole,” said Scott. “I knew I could do it and I knew our team could do it, so we just took it to them.”

A trey by Barrier and two foul shots by Scott opened up a 50-34 lead at the 5:44 mark of the third quarter.

Ironton led 59-47 after a layup by Scott but Garner hit a 3-pointer and Julia Parker made a layup as Ashland got within 59-52 at the end of the quarter.

The Kittens got within 62-58 with 6:47 to go after a 3-pointer by Barber.

But Lexie Wise answered with a triple of her own and Barrier’s layup gave Ironton a 67-58 lead with 6:20 left.

“I felt like if we didn’t get a transition look, we took our time and ran some offense and got a decent look,” said Graham.

Robinson made a layup and converted a 3-point play to slice Ironton’s lead to 67-63, but a layup by Wise and putback by Barrier made it 71-63.

Ashland was then forced to foul and Scott was 4-of-6 at the foul line to seal the win.

Ironton shot 24-of-47 form the field and 9-of-13 from behind the arc as well as 16-of-21 from the foul line.

“It’s been a point of emphasis in practice. Competition shooting. We’ve had a concerted effort to shoot when we’re tired and when we’re winded. So hats off to the girls for executing what we do in practice in the games,” said Graham.

“I’m not upset with our defense. I know that sounds crazy, but hats off to them. They shot extremely well.”

Ironton plays at Russell, Ky., on Monday.

Ashland 17 17 18 11 = 63

Ironton 20 25 14 16 = 75

ASHLAND (4-4): Rachel Barber 1 4 4-4 18, Chloe Kouns 0 0 0-0 0, Madeline Garner 0 4 0-2 12, Mykassa Robinson 11 1 1-2 26, Sarah Rymer 1 0 0-0 2, Sierra Williams 0 0 0-0 0, Julia Parker 1 1 0-0 5, A.J. Johnson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-48 5-6 63. 3-point goals 10-18. Rebounds: 4-O, 15-D = 19 (Robinson 6, Kouns 4). Team rebounds: 2. Assists: 4 (Robinson 2). Steals: 4 (Robinson 2). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None.

IRONTON (8-0): Jordan Hannan 2 0 0-0 4, Lexie Wise 2 1 2-2 9, Lexie Barrier 7 4 4-5 30, Sydney Webb 0 1 0-0 3, Cheyenne Scott 3 2 10-14 22, D’Laynie Keith 0 0 0-0 0, Zakia Lee 0 0 0-0 0, Alyssa Lewis 1 1 0-0 5. Totals: 24-47 16-21 75. 3-point goals: 9-13. Reounds: 11-O, 21-D = 32 (Barrier 14, Wise 6, Scott 5). Team rebounds: 4. Assists: 4. Steals: 8 (Scott 3, Barrier 2). Turnovers: 9. Fouls: 8. Fouled out: None.