Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

CUYAHOGA FALLS — When Charlie Large and Reid Carrico got going, so did the Ironton Fighting Tigers.
Large led a first half charge as Ironton took a 12-point lead and Carrico put his foot on the gas pedal in the second half as the Fighting Tigers led by as many as 25 in beating the host Cuyahoga Falls Black Tigers 62-49 on Friday.
“Once Charlie starts going to the basket that opens a lot of things for him. (Reid) came out and got aggressive going to the hole (in the second half). We just need for him to go.”,” said Ironton coach Mark LaFon.
Large scored 12 of his 15 points in the first half and Carrico had 14 points — 12 in the second half — as Ironton improved to 4-3 on the season.
Ethan Wilson scored 10 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists.
James Moore scored 12 points for the Black Tigers (1-6).
Cuyahoga shot only 37 percent from the floor (20-of-54) and was guilty of 22 turnovers.
“We did a pretty good job getting our hands on the ball,” said LaFon.
Wilson and Large had eight of Ironton’s 12 first quarter points and it was 12-8.
A basket by Deon Horn to start the game gave the Black Tigers their only lead of the game at 2-0.
Large and Wilson had six points each in the second quarter and Ayden Barnes added five points including a 3-pointer that gave Ironton a 29-16 lead.
Moore’s trey made it 29-19 but Wilson scored just before the buzzer and it was 31-19 at the break.
Carrico had a steal and layup and a putback to start the second half. Jordan Grizzle drove for a layup and Carrico had two more layups with Grizzle getting a basket as Ironton opened up a 43-21 lead.
Erickson Barnes came off the bench to hit a pair of trifectas and a tip-in by Hunter Humphreys gave Ironton its biggest lead at 48-23.
Ironton was up 57-34 after a putback by Carrico in the fourth quarter only to have Cuyahoga to on a 13-2 run and cut the spread to 59-47 following a steal and layup by Horn.
The lead was 60-49 when Large sank two clutch foul shots with 1:27 left to virtually seal the outcome.
Ironton plays Woodridge at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Ironton 12 19 20 11 = 62
Cuyahoga 8 11 11 19 = 49
IRONTON (4-3): Ethan Wilson 5 0 0-1 10, Jordan Grizzle 2 0 0-1 4, Reid Carrico 7 0 0-0 14, Charlie Large 6 0 3-4 15, Hunter Humphreys 2 0 0-0 4, Ayden Barnes 1 1 0-0 5, Collin Freeman 2 0 0-2 4, Trent Hacker 0 0 0-0 0, Erickson Barnes 0 2 0-0 6, Will York 0 0 0-0 0, Richard Thompson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 28-60 3-8 62. 3-pt goals: 3-12. Rebounds: 13-O, 21-D = 34 (Wilson 7, Freeman 5, Large 4, A. Barnes 4). Team/deadball rebounds: 4. Assists: 7 (Wilson 3). Steals: 11 (Large 5). Turnovers: 18. Fouls: 8. Fouled out: None.
CUYAHOGA FALLS (1-6): Dauzhan Brazile 1 0 0-2 2, Deon Horn 4 0 0-0 8, Noah Koehler 1 1 0-0 5, James Moore 1 3 1-2 12, Kyler Tepus 1 1 0-0 5, Allex Miller 0 1 0-0 3, Trinny Henderson 0 0 1-2 1, Anthony Sondles 1 1 0-0 5, Joey Sondles 2 0 0-0 4, Joey Centerbury 0 0 0-0 0, Ethan Tompkins 2 0 0-1 4. Totals: 20-54 2-7 49. 3-pt goals: 7-20. Rebounds: 13-O, 16-D = 29 (Horn 6, Tepus 5). Team/deadball rebounds: 6. Assists: 4. Steals: 7 (Tompkins 2). Turnovers: 22. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None.