Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

The Ironton Fighting Tigers must have visited Dave Lawless in the high school auto shop and borrowed some brake pads.
Ironton’s defense put the brakes on the South Point Pointers’ 3-point shooting as the Fighting Tigers posted a 50-36 Ohio Valley Conference win on Friday.
Ironton’s defense was able to limit the Pointers to just 5-of-27 shooting from the 3-point line.
The Pointers struggled with their shooting all night as they made only 13-of-50 attempts for 26 percent.
“We played a lot of man. We didn’t let them get going,” said Ironton coach Mark LaFon. “They made an adjustment but we still did a good job (defending the three).
“We did a good job moving the ball and sharing the ball. We always share the ball. We’re very unselfish.”
Ethan Wilson had 13 points and four assists while Ryan Bryant got 11 points and 11 rebounds to lead Ironton (11-8, 7-6) to a win on senior night.
Tayshaun Fox had 17 points, four rebounds, four steals and two assists for the Pointers (11-9, 7-6). Logan Wade added nine points and eight rebounds.
Ironton led 8-5 after Raphael Glover followed up his own missed shot. South Point then used a 3-pointer by Elijah Adams and a layup by Wade to take a 10-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Cade Brandt’s layup to start the second quarter had South Point up 12-8.
A put-back by Bryant and a steal and layup by Jourdyn Barrow tied the game at 12.
Jared Whitt then hit a 3-pointer to put the Pointers in front 15-12.

But Ironton scored nine unanswered points to end the half and led 21-15 at the break. Bryant scored three, Kyle Adkins converted a three-point play and Andrew Scott made a layup off a nice pass from Wilson to comprise the run.
Scott had a layup to begin the second half but Wade’s layup ended the 11-0 run and Fox’s 3-pointer cut the deficit to 23-20.
Ironton then scored six straight points to lead 29-20. Wade’s three-point play and Fox’s triple made it 31-26 and a steal and layup by Fox tightened the score to 31-28.
Adkins hit a trifecta, Wilson made a 13-footer and two foul shots by Bryant enabled Ironton to go on a 7-3 run to end the quarter and take a 38-31 lead.
Adams’ layup started the fourth quarter but Glover got two baskets and Wilson ht a layup after a steal by Joel Blankenship and it was 44-33.
Wilson made a nice pass to Scott for a layup and then got a rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup as the lead grew to 48-35 and Ironton was never threatened.
“Our kids stepped up. They battled and got after it. I’m proud of their effort,” said LaFon.
“Wilson is a warrior. I’m harder on Ryan Bryant than anyone and in the second half he handled himself tremendously. That was one of the differences in the game. He did a great job.”
South Point visits Pt. Pleasant, W.Va., on Monday while Ironton travels to Capital, W.Va., on Tuesday.
South Point    10    5    16    5    =    36
Ironton       8    13    17    12    =    50
SOUTH POINT (11-9, 7-6): Jared Whitt 0 1 0-0 3, Tayshaun Fox 2 3 4-6 17, Elijah Adams 1 1 0-0 5, Cody Runyon 0 0 0-0 0, Logan Wade 4 0 1-1 9, Douglas Shaffer 0 0 0-0 0, Cade Brandt 1 0 0-0 2, Dustin McCarty 0 0 0-0 0, Caleb Eplion 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-50 5-7 36. 3-point goals: 5-27. Rebounds: 11-O, 9-D = 20 (Wade 8, Fox 4). Team/deadball rebounds: 1. Assists: 5 (Adams 3, Fox 2). Steals: 8 (Fox 4. Adams 2). Turnovers: 6. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.
IRONTON (11-8, 7-6): Ethan Wilson 6 0 1-2 13, Andrew Scott 3 0 0-2 6, Kyle Adkins 2 1 1-2 8, Raphael Glover 4 0 0-0 8, Ryan Bryant 2 1 4-4 11, Joel Blankenship 0 0 0-0 0, Jourdyn Barrow 2 0 0-0 4, Hunter Humphreys 0 0 0-0 0, Ryan Payne 0 0 0-0 0, Trevor Hacker 0 0 0-0 0, Trent Milleson 0 0 0-0 0, Collin Freeman 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-44 6-10 50. 3-point goals: 2-7. Rebounds: 13-O, 25-D = 38 (Bryant 11, Adkins 8, Glover 7, Scott 6). Team/deadball rebounds: 3. Assists: 6 (Wilson 4). Steals: 3. Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: None.