Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — There’s an old adage that says when you have your health, you have everything.
Charlie Large would agree.
After missing one-half or more of his first three seasons due to injuries, the Ironton Fighting Tigers’ senior guard is finally healthy and he’s causing other teams a lot of hurt.
Large had a career-high 36 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as Ironton beat the Huntington Highlanders 63-53 on Saturday.
“Charlie had a super, super game. It wasn’t because he was burning it up outside. He was attacking,” said Ironton coach Mark LaFon.
Ethan Wilson had a solid all-around performance with 16 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals. Reid Carrico had eight rebounds despite sitting out most of the first half in foul trouble.
“One of our big things is we knew it would be a physical, up-and-down game. We had to play under control. I’m proud of the mental effort to stay with it and physical effort to stay with it.”
Kris Brown had 17 points and Dionn Simms 11 for the Highlanders (2-5).
Huntington was up 7-3 after two foul shots by Tanner Stevens, but Large had three straight baskets, Wilson scored off a feed from Large to lead 11-7. Large’s layup just before the buzzer sounded made it 13-7.
The Highlanders closed to within 18-16 on a 3-pointer by Torin Lochow with three minutes left in the half. Large sank two foul shots but a triple by Brown cut the deficit to 20-19 at the break.
Garrick Hopkins started the second half with a layup to give Huntington its first lead since the first quarter and Stevens made a 3-pointer for a 24-20 lead.
But Large answered with a trifecta and Carrico drove for a layup to make it 25-24.
Huntington went on a 7-3 run to lead 31-27, but two fouls shots and a layup by Wilson and a 3-pointer and three-point play by Large gave Ironton the lead for good at 39-33.
Wilson’s 17-footer to end the quarter put the lead at 45-33.
Ironton went up 50-35 on a 3-pointer by Large only to have Huntington get within 56-47 on a pair of foul shots each by Simms and Brown with under three minutes to go.
But a tip-in by Wilson with 2:32 left made it 58-47 and Large had a layup off a pass from Wilson and Carrico a putback with a minute left for a 62-49 lead to seal the outcome.
On Tuesday, Ironton hosts Chesapeake.
Ironton 13 7 25 18 = 63
Huntington 7 12 14 20 = 53
IRONTON (7-3): Ethan Wilson 6 0 4-5 16, Jordan Grizzle 0 1 0-0 3, Reid Carrico 3 0 0-3 6, Charlie Large 10 4 4-5 36, Ayden Barnes 1 0 0-0 2, Hunter Humphreys 0 0 0-0 0, Erickson Barnes 0 0 0-1 0, Collin Freeman 0 00-0 0. Totals: 25-56 8-14 63. 3-pt goals: 5-14 Rebounds: 19-O, 24-D = 43 (Large 14, Wilson 11, Carrico 8). Team/deadball rebounds: 4. Assists: 9 (Wilson 4). Steals: 7 (Wilson 3, A. Barnes 3). Turnovers: 15. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.
HUNTINGTON (2-5): Kris Brown 3 3 2-2 17, Torin Lochow 0 1 0-0 3, Dionn Simms 3 1 2-2 11, Tanner Stevens 0 1 2-2 5, Chianti Littlejohn 2 0 0-0 4, Garrick Hopkins 2 0 1-2 5, Ta’ Blackwell 1 0 0-0 2, Corbin Page 0 0 0-0 0, Zion Page 1 0 0-0 2, Joseph Patterson 2 0 0-0 4. Totals: 20-54 7-8 53. 3-pt goals: 6-22. Rebounds: 10-O, 15-D = 25 (Simms 6, Brown 4). Team/deadball rebounds: 2. Assists: 8 (Blackwell 2). Steals: 8 (Brown 3, Hopkins 2). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: None.