Ironton coach Mark LaFon expected to see some improvement from the Fighting Tigers’ opening game. His team not only improved, they gave the Manchester Greyhounds a real eye-opener.

Ironton combined a swarming defense and an unselfish offense to rout Manchester 91-53 Saturday night.

“We were so much better than our first game,” said LaFon. “We executed much better and we rotated better on defense. Our passes were sharper and the guys who can make 3s took the 3s, and the guys who can score around the basket took the ball to the basket.”

Ironton (2-0) shot a blistering 54 percent by making 37 of 68 field goal attempts. They were nearly 60 percent after three quarters.

Dustin Green led a balanced offense with 19 points while Michael Lamb had 13 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots.

“Dustin shot the ball really well and Michael had a pretty good game for someone who has been sick all week,” said LaFon.

Also in double figures were Tommy Waginger with 12 points off the bench while Tim Kochendoerfer and Johnathon Schweickart scored 10 points each.

Manchester (0-2) was led by Blake Blevins with 13 points. Timmy Cooper had 11 and Dawson Little 10.

The Greyhounds actually held a 9-8 lead on a three-point play by Dylan Hanson midway through the first quarter, but layups by Lamb and Schweickart gave Ironton the lead for good.

Green and Kochendoerfer hit key 3-pointers and Schweickart followed up his own shot to put Ironton up 22-15 at the end of the quarter.

Waginger and Kochendoefer had back-to-back trifectas to push the lead to 30-19.

Ironton then went on a 13-4 run capped by Green’s trey just before the buzzer as the Fighting Tigers went up 44-25 at the break.

Lamb hit three baskets early as Ironton went up 62-34 and Waginger closed the quarter with a triple and a layup off a nice pass from Malcolm Morton.

The 38-point final margin represented Ironton’s biggest lead.

Manchester 15 10 16 12 = 53

Ironton 22 22 28 19 = 91

MANCHESTER (0-2): Blake Blevins 3 2 1-3 13, McKenzie Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Dylan Hanson 2 1 2-4 9, Timmy Cooper 5 0 1-3 11, Jarred Quinlan 2 0 1-1 5, Dawson Little 2 2 0-1 10, Dilan Edwards 0 0 0-2 0, Darin Shelton 0 1 0-0 3, Joey Casey 0 0 2-2 2, John Marshall 0 0 0-0 0, Travis Combs 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-56 7-16 53. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 6-21. Rebounds: 7-13=20 (Blevins 6, Edwards 4). Team/deadball rebounds: 6. Assists: 4 (Combs 2, Quinlan 2). Steals: 5 (Quinlan 3). Turnovers: 16.

IRONTON (2-0): Johnathon Schweickart 5 0 0-1 10, Tim Kochendoerfer 2 2 0-0 10, Lukas Morris 2 0 0-0 4, Dustin Green 6 2 1-1 19, Michael Lamb 5 0 3-4 13, Erin Edens 1 0 0-0 2, Tommy Waginger 3 2 0-0 12, Travis Elliott 2 0 0-1 4, Casey Jones 2 0 1-2 5, Malcolm Morton 2 0 2-2 6, Robbie Webb 1 0 4-4 6, Jonathan Norris 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 37-68 11-15 91. Fouls: 17. 3-point goals: 6-13. Rebounds: 14-29=43 (Lamb 9, Green 5, Waginger 5, Elliott 4, Webb 4). Team/deadball rebounds: 3. Assists: 11 (Morton 5). Steals: 9 (Schweickart 2, Morton 2). Turnovers: 15.

Reserves: Ironton 36, Manchester 30. Ironton: Malcolm Morton 12, Mason Weisgarber 8, Casey Jones 8. Manchester: Dylan Ricketts 9.