Ironton vs Alexander.........D3 Athens District 2 Semi Final

[Leaving Minford]

Best game of the district semis.

If Ironton is back to being healthy I will take them and their defense. Might be a football game as I know both teams can be physical.

Ironton by 7

[Gregg811]

Good to the Lady Spartans from Wildcat Country.

[1974Viking]

Good luck to the Lady Spartans and Coach Guthrie. Play like you are capable of, you will win. Hope both teams do well and have no injuries. 74 Viking

[akwhitewater]

Best of Luck to the Lady Spartans...from way, way up north..... show them what you've got girls !!

[wemufans]

Good Luck to another Lawrence County school.

[buddyholly]

This game will be much closer than either of the teams fans think. I believe that the Lady Spartans will represent the TVC well and come out the victors in a very close one. Best of Luck Lady Spartans this afternoon!!

[caglewis]

ALMOST GAME TIME
On the radio on WIRO 1230 AM
On the net: http://www.800wvhu.com/pages/hsbroadcasts.html
Click on the TIGER face in the middle of the page.

I have started a separate thread for UPDATES. - GO IRONTON LADY TIGERS

AT THE HALF - Ironton up by 3 - 24 - 21

[ItownHosscat]

Ironton = Toast Oooooooh Yeeeeeeaaaah!

Can you dig it!
Sorry I had to...Congrat to Alexander on their season.

[athens78]

score?

[caglewis]

It's in the subject line of another thread - Ironton 52 - Alexander 37.

[ladyspartanfan]

Congrats to Ironton

[Steely Dan]

I must preface this post with the following:

This is my unbiased opinion, as an outsider, who was there to watch the game. I am going to be completely honest, not sugar-coat anything, while maintaining respect for both teams. These are my observations, and should not be construed as criticism. If you feel it is critical, it is my intent to provide constructive criticism.

Oh, and no lawyer drafted that disclaimer for me, before I typed it!!!!!! Just trying to protect myself, from the rabid.....

Most of the time, when things are good, we get bombarded with all of the happy thoughts, wellwishers, life is great, I'm looking through rose colored glasses prepsters. When things don't work out, well, we hear crickets, as is the case tonight.

I'm going to offer my unbiased, unabashed opinion, on today's game. My friends at Alex, if you don't like it, sorry, but the folks who read this forum, and weren't at the game, are entitled to some insight as to what happened.

OK, I'm done qualifying what I'm doing, sorry.

Alexander - Way too many unforced turnovers, they appeared way out of synch at times, there are still chemistry issues (IMHO) considering that Raines and Smith sat the bench at the start of the game, and absolutely no offensive discipline displayed today. I'm not sure if I saw much of a set offense today. Way too much passing around the perimeter, and when you did try to go inside (which wasn't often), either bad passes, walks, or blocked shots occurred.

As a TVC supporter, and as a fan (from another TVC school) driving 90 miles one way to support these girls, it was simply hard to watch. The 13-0 tiger run in the 3rd quarter pretty much sealed the deal.

There was no flow in the offense, no continuity throughout the game, and offensively, no plan to attack the larger, more physical team.

Too many forced shots, way too many unforced turnovers, and the abysmal foul shooting pretty much sealed the deal. That is my unbiased, unemotional evaluation of this game.

On the flipside, a great four years for the Alex seniors, it has been fun watching you play. Wish you the best as you move on in your lives.

Ironton - Nice game, you stuck to your game plan, played physical, and made the plays when you had to. Good luck in your game against Zane Trace.

Now, for both teams, alot to be desired in terms of the quality of officiating tonight. I was just astounded at some of the "no-calls", as well as the phantom calls, in this game. I'd call that one a coin flip, in terms of who was impacted more.......

SD will see my Alex friends next in baseball and softball season. Congrats to the Lady Spartans on a fine season.

[slamdunk]

Now, for both teams, alot to be desired in terms of the quality of officiating tonight. I was just astounded at some of the "no-calls", as well as the phantom calls, in this game. I'd call that one a coin flip, in terms of who was impacted more.......

I agree with your assessment of the game in terms of how Alex looked and the game Ironton played.

If you wanted "no-calls", you should have seen the first game. Maybe you did, but it was a lot worse in my opinion. I know they let them play come tournament time, but in the first game, their was some tackles that weren't called.

If you are going to let it go fine, but if the bump or tackle in some cases causes a turnover or bad shot, it needs to be called. If the bump does not impact who has the ball, then let it go if you want the games to move along. I know I am not alone in saying that if they are going to let players play without calling much come tournament time, then they need to do it during the season too so that the kids can get used to the physical play. Players get used to officials calling it one way during the year and then have to adjust to another style of officiating come tournament time.

I also agree that neither team was affected one way or the other by the calls. Alex can't blame this on the officiating. Poor shooting and turnovers hurt them.

[Steely Dan]

slamdunk - No, I was not at the first game, but did talk to some folks that I respect from a basketball standpoint, and they basically echoed what you have said. Very poor officiating in the first game, and not alot of offense. What was it, 10-7 at the half?????? What the ??????

Geesh, you would hope that they'd be putting out the top notch crews to do these games, but that wasn't the case today.........

[Steely Dan]

I agree with the title of this article. The numbers DO tell the story....

http://www.irontontribune.com/news/2009 ... igers-win/

[IMK01]

Why did Smith & Raines sit the first few minutes of the game??? Doesn't make much sense...

[dolittle]

This game was a case of both teams turning the ball over way to many times. If Alexander would have been able to knock down some of those threes the outcome could have been different. Even though Alexander passed the ball around the perimenter quite a bit, I thought they did move the ball around good and their players were moving. As for officiating whether good or bad you have to make adjustments as a player. If they are calling it tight then you need to back off. What we all want is for them to at least be consistent. Alexander has a fine program. Good luck to the Tigers

[buckfever]

Why did Smith & Raines sit the first few minutes of the game??? Doesn't make much sense...

another lesson being taught, but who learned the lesson?

[admar]

Why did Smith & Raines sit the first few minutes of the game??? Doesn't make much sense...

I over heard someone talking that these girls had a bad week of practice and made the commit that they was ready to lose. It's a shame that after all the greatness this team has had, they had to end like this. What a great group of young ladies. I am sure that they gave their all whenever they was on the floor. I honestly don't think that sitting out a couple minutes hurt the team. The paper said they shot 20% and that is not going to win a ball game. The 3 point shot is fine to shoot if they are falling but I think I would have kept driving to the basket or feeding the post players. It worked the first few minutes of the game and then it all changed. I think EVERYONE will learn something from this game. Sometimes it helps put things in perspective. These ladies have made the TVC proud over their high school careers and have nothing to hang their heads about. Good luck to all the seniors and to the underclassmen in the future.

[Rufus]

It was 4-2 when those girls came into the game...not the reason they lost.