Ironton 55 - VS Chillicothe 49 - FINAL 12/19

[RiverRatZap]

congrats to the tigers. they must have really hit the board hard in the second half.

I had Chillicothe out rebounding Ironton 25-9 in the first half. Huge turnaround for Ironton after the break.

[85inside]

Ironton down 10 at the break and came back to win. Great great win Fighting Tigers. now its on to the Ironton Classic on monday and tuesday.

[UpperDecker]

With a 2nd half like that I would think the difference in this one was coaching. Big turnaround halftime "tweaks" make a huge difference.
Chilly is very talented , but I wouldnt be surprised to see them place as low as 4th or 5th in the league. With Ironton, Zanesville, Portsmouth and maybe Warren all putting up W's against the Cavs this year. Time will tell good luck to both teams on the season. Sounds like it was a good one tonight.

[juke boxer]

Ironton down 10 at the break and came back to win. Great great win Fighting Tigers. now its on to the Ironton Classic on monday and tuesday.

85, I see you are still with us. The shirt I saw an associate wearing this evening was "sweeeet " !! And that Titus is a rebounding machine. I would say he'll have a couple bumps in the morning. GREAT job, Titus !! "I love that guy." Those freshmen sure are fun to watch !

[popster]

great game , the tigers played awsome in second half.dustin sure played like he was obcessed, good team effort on all players. congrat's tigers

[Rhiannon]

Dustin Green was lights out(glad those lights are still on)......but to me the big difference was in the 2nd half when Erin "Country" Edens and Mike "Silence the " Lamb hit the defensive boards big time....They were like 2 men on a mission....Great job guys!!!!

Lukas "Mellow Yellow" Morris had some great blocks.....One of them I thought was coming up in the stands at us and we were on the other end of the court

I think Ironton really out hustled Chilli in the 2nd half.....Coming out and out scoring them by 16 ....

Great to see Ironton hitting some free throws at the end.....

Timmy K. played a good solid game on both ends of the floor....Johnathan had some great steals but got in foul trouble...Travis "Poco" Elliott came off the bench and gave them some good minutes in the 4th quarter....

Good luck to Ironton Monday evening against the Russell Red Devils....

[Rhiannon]

[ The shirt I saw an associate wearing this evening was "sweeeet " !! !

Where does one get these "Sweeeeeet shirts or do you have to be associate to get one?

[Hoopster]

BuckeyeCavs....Say it ain't so.

[tropical breeze]

Sounds like Ironton played a great second half, but I would be a little leary about "too" much gloating until after the next go round with Chillicothe. While both teams will improve between now and then, it could be a much different Chillicothe team next go around! Congradulations Ironton, great start to an SEOAL season!

[trojandave]

Congratulations to the Fighting Tigers on the win.........sounds like IHS made a spirited comeback in the second half.........and any win over Chillicothe is a very good win........CHS will still have a very good season.......and this win by Ironton is very important in the SEOAL South race.............

As I felt before the season even began, the SEOAL title is much more a wide open battle this year.........I don't think it will be a 2 team horse race this time around.........

[GreasyRidgeGuru]

Nice job Ironton. Keep your heads up Chilly. Maybe this is what the team needed.Tasting defeat early in the season may push you a litlle harder to make sure you don't taste it again for awhile. Good to see Ironton doing good on the court. Anytime the SEOAl has more than 2-3 good teams, I'm happy. Its boring when its a 2 horse race as trojandave called it.

[IBLEEDORANGENBLACK]

Ironton is good enough to do whatever they want to do with this season.
There is no team in my mind that can outman the Tigers. Not looking over Russel but I am looking forward to see what they do against a D-1 powerhouse in Brookhaven.

[On the sidelines]

I have seen Ironton, Chillicothe and Portsmouth play this year. All are nice teams, Portsmouth has the most talent. If they keep gaining confidence with the wins and the coach keeps them under control, they will be the CHAMPS of the SEOAL this year. And I don't live in Portsmouth.

[ItownHosscat]

Sounds like Ironton played a great second half, but I would be a little leary about "too" much gloating until after the next go round with Chillicothe. While both teams will improve between now and then, it could be a much different Chillicothe team next go around! Congradulations Ironton, great start to an SEOAL season!

I don't see anyone gloating.Beating Chilli is big.Chilli has an awesome team.That game will make both these teams stronger for tourney time.
Again Congrats to the Tigers.

[biggdowgg]

Ironton is good enough to do whatever they want to do with this season.
There is no team in my mind that can outman the Tigers. Not looking over Russel but I am looking forward to see what they do against a D-1 powerhouse in Brookhaven.

I agree with you, if the Tigers can get by rusell, they could very well go unbeaten

[sportsfan43]

I agree with yoiu, if the Tigers can get by russell, they could very well go unbeaten

i seriously doubt Ironton will have any trouble with Russell. it will be over by midway of the second qtr. sorrt but that's the way it is.[/quote]

I think , what they are saying is, other then chillicothe, Russell is the best team on their schedule, and them are the only two teams that will be a threat to the Tigers.

[Do-Your-Job]

That's interesting. Army, BuckeyeCav doesn't have anything to say about this Chillicothe loss. What a coincidence, he's so quick to comment anytime Chilly wins.

[Dshanton3]

I'll step in and comment on behalf of the Cavs faithful even though i was forced to listen on the radio as i was at work...

Sounded to me like this game down to two things...

1. Chillicothe doesnt know who they are yet. They dont know where to look for tough baskets, players dont know when its ok to step up and make a play or set back and play within the system, obviously they shot terribly from the free throw line, they missed soooo many baskets close to the hoop, they havent figured out their strengths, and to sum it all up, they simply dont have an identity as a team yet.

This team lost 3 very very vital components to their offense. Basically their whole offensive system was set up/ran by the 3 guys they lost. The guys that are left are very capable of scoring, but they need time to adjust to this new responsibility. I think they are still getting used to not having the luxury of Hitchens getting hot or Chambers bailing out a miss with an O board and put back, Stu bev getting hot from 3, etc. They need time to mature in their game and realize that they now are the men counted on to do those things. it doesnt come overnight, and it doesnt come with one game played! It will however come because they have a coach that has a history of slow starting teams who pick up steam as the season goes, and are rolling come february. I believe this game will be a very different game the second time around but that certainly doesnt mean Ironton wont win again.

2. Ironton is a very good team. They have a go-to scorer in Green, a nice big man to help defensively down low and rebounding the basketball in Lamb, and from the sounds of it they have kids around those two who do the little things to get wins. They were composed down the stretch, they responded well to coaching at half, and they had a hell of a third quarter. a 14 point swing! thats a sign of a good team that they listen to instruction and come out and execute like they did. an outstanding game by the tigers. This team is too good to not play your best on the road and expect to come out with a win.

Its no secret that early season melt-downs or under-performances are not uncommon at chilli in the last 4 years. I expected this team to take their lumps in the early season and that seems like it will be the case. These questions need answered: Who is going to provide perimeter shooting? because right now they have none. Who is going to step up and rebound the basketball? Dawes is a decent rebounded but guys like Benson and Smith are going to have to step up and take pride in their efforts on the glass. Can Mike Turner handle adversity and contribute? he's very talented but he needs to find a way to get it going and stay with himself mentally when its going tough and contribute instead of disappearing. How much will Malik London help? I think if he can get eligible like expected in january, and play strong down low, with his shot blocking, the Cavs should have a great weapon with a security blanket down low to protect the way they can pressure and get after the ball on defense on the perimeter.

Its a long season and the Cavs will be a great team come tourney time. The talent is there right now, its just not sure how to co-exist. the pieces are there and Gary will put them together. Ironton did a great job and is a great team and they should receive all the credit in the world and provide tremendous motivation for the cavs to improve!

[gymratt]

Congratulations to the Tigers on a great win over the State Champs. Sounds like the Cavs Melted down in the third though. As was said before, I wonder about Turner's ability to handle adversity. I haven't been to a game yet but I believe that Knights should be running the point, if he isn't already, with Turner or someone else (possibly the new Beverly kid) at the 2. I just think Knights is very good at setting up the offense.

This team has all the talent and I personally could care less whether the Cavs lose to the Tigers, or LE for thet matter, in December as long as they put things together in time for their run at the Convo. Who would have thought During December of the year at OUC that they would knock off Grove City and Dublin Scioto and nearly beat McClain? Who would have thought two years ago after being handled by Libbey that they would beat McClain and Zanesville in the tourney? Who would have thought after last year's loss to Brookhaven that they would win a State Title? And who thinks this year that they will be fine by tourney time to give a run at another Regional Title. I ,for one, do.