IRONTON — One week after opening its boys basketball season with four games — and four wins — in five nights, the Ironton Fighting Tigers passed their toughest test to date, and gave themselves a Christmas present. That being at least a temporary tie for the early lead in the Ohio Valley Conference championship chase. Against the preseason OVC favorite Chesapeake Panthers, and back in the friendly confines of Ironton High School's Conley Center on Tuesday night, the athletic

PORTSMOUTH — A huge scoring run, along with some tough defense in the second and third quarters proved to be the mix needed for the Notre Dame Titans to upend the Saint Joseph Flyers 63-45 in a Southern Ohio Conference game on Tuesday night. After the game, Titans coach Matt Mader felt the win was an early Christmas present for his team. "Very happy with our performance tonight, definitely on the defensive end. You could feel the intensity, the energy that we brought tonight.

PROCTORVILLE — Maybe Fransen is short for Frankenstein because Cliff Fransen had a monster game. Fransen scored a career-high 37 points, yanked down 14 rebounds and had 5 assists as the Fairland Dragons rolled to a 92-70 Ohio Valley Conference win over the Portsmouth Trojans on Monday. Fransen and Trevor Lochow combined for 14 as each made two 3-pointers and Kiyan Page had 5 points including a 3-pointer as Fairland took a 23-18 first quarter lead. Daequan Woods scored 6 point

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COAL GROVE — The Rock Hill Redmen started fast and never slowed down as they beat the Coal Grove Hornets 63-39 in an Ohio Valley Conference game on Monday. The Redmen took an 11-point lead early and stretched it to 19 points by halftime as they were never challenged the rest of the game. Kelan Davidson hit a 3-pointer and scored 7 points and Barker knocked down a pair of triples in the first quarter as Rock Hill jumped in front 19-8. Carson Medinger had 6 points and Rylan Bla

IRONTON — Brycen Mullins made six more three-pointers on Saturday night.  Ashton Layne, and the remainder of the Fighting Tigers in the proper Christmas spirit, lent a helping hand.  As a result, and spearheaded by 11 total triples and 27 first-period points, Ironton's boys’ basketball team amassed its fourth victory in as many tries — and all in five nights in its season-opening week. The Fighting Tigers trailed nary against the previously-undefeated South Webster Jeeps, ope

IRONTON — Simply put, Chesapeake's Panthers overwhelmed Lincoln County's. That's because, in the final contest of Saturday night's annual Ironton Classic, Chesapeake scored the game's opening 33 points — and coasted to an easy 64-17 boys basketball blowout over Lincoln County (W. Va.) inside Ironton's Conley Center.  That's right.  The Ohio Panthers put it on their West Virginia namesake, amassing 25 points apiece in each of the opening two periods — and pitching a shutout in

IRONTON — Just call him Microwave. When Ironton’s junior point guard Brycen Mullins heats up, he does it as quickly as a microwave oven. Mullins did his quick heating up on Friday in the third quarter as the Fighting Tigers beat the Waterford Wildcats 46-30 on the first day of the Ironton Classic. Ironton (3-0) struggled to score in the first half and led just 10-4 after the first quarter and 18-10 at the half. But Mullins hit a 3-pointer, sank 2 foul shots and hit another 3-

Get 15% OFF your first order when you use the code GET15 at checkout! COAL GROVE — Trailing by 15 at the half and 17 early in the third quarter, the Coal Grove Hornets showed plenty of resiliency and grit with a second half rally to beat the Saint Joseph Flyers 53-51 on Friday night. For Coal Grove coach Kevin Vanderhoof, he was elated to not only see his team be able to bounce back after a tough league loss the night before, but also battle back from a huge deficit to get a

SOUTH POINT — If you want more offense, then get more defense. The Ironton defense forced 22 turnovers that helped generate more offense as the Fighting Tigers beat the South Point Pointers 62-38 in an Ohio Valley Conference game on Thursday. “I said before the game that our defense will win us the basketball game,” said Stevens. “Twenty-two turnovers give us more possessions, allowed us to get out and run with our athletes and I think that’s when we’re at our best.” The Poin

CROWN CITY — The St. Joseph Flyers won the first half, but the South Gallia Rebels dominated the second half. The Flyers held a 5-point lead only to have the Rebels outscore St. Joseph 38-19 in the second half and post a 53-39 win on Tuesday.  Barrett Waginger hit a 3-pointer and scored 7 points for the Flyers as they took a 10-5 first quarter lead. St. Joseph maintained its lead in the second quarter and was up 20-15 as Eli Whaley drilled a 3-pointer and Waginger had 4 point

MINFORD — What turns you on? When it comes to the Ironton Fighting Tigers, the igniter is defense. Ironton used a full court press and a stellar defensive effort to rally from 8 points down early in the fourth quarter to beat the Minford Falcons 53-42 on Tuesday in the Fighting Tigers season opener. Ironton trailed the entire game as the defense played well but the offense had generated only 32 points early in the fourth quarter. That’s when the defense turned on the offense.

2025 BATTLE OF THE 740 SCHEDULE  (all games at Shawnee State University) Saturday, Dec. 13  * 11 a.m. - Meigs Eastern vs. Symmes Valley * 12:30 p.m. - Piketon vs. Northwest  * 2 p.m. - Southern vs. Portsmouth  * 3:30 p.m. - Columbus Africentric vs. Huntington High (W. Va.)  * 5 p.m. - Fairfield vs. Valley * 6:30 p.m. - Harvest Prep vs. Chesapeake  * 8 p.m. - Chillicothe vs. Fairland  Sunday, Dec. 14 * 12 p.m. - Hillsboro vs. West  * 1:30 p.m. - Huntington vs. Rock Hill * 3 p.

Take advantage of our Christmas Special! No coupon code needed! PORTSMOUTH — Some missed our opportunities "Overall you obviously want to win the game, but I'm pleased with our effort," said Coal Grove coach Kevin Vanderhoof. "I played about 8 guys and I was pleased with what they did." The Hornets (1-1) were led offensively by Brayden Klaiber with a team-high 15 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Bronson Guy had 11 points and 2 steals. Ayden Hankins chipped in 9 points in the

WILLOW WOOD — A strong second quarter from the Symmes Valley Vikings proved to be the spark needed to rout the Green Bobcats 72-50 on Friday night in a non-league game between Southern Ohio Conference teams. Vikings coach Alvin Carpenter felt great about the win afterwards, but felt the rust still hadn't worn off and saw room for improvement. "We're starting to play a little and get football out of our system. We're starting to play pretty decent, but we still got a long way

PEDRO — Being second was better than being first for the Rock Hill Redmen. After leading by one point in the first quarter, the Redmen used a decisive second quarter to trigger a 60-37 win over the St. Joseph Flyers in the season opener for both teams. Rock Hill took a 15-14 first quarter lead as Yaden Bailey and Rylan Barker scored 5 points each. Eli Whaley drained a pair of 3-pointers and scored 8 points while Zane Dressel added 4 points to keep the Flyers close. But the Fl

WILLOW WOOD — Ball pressure in the backcourt and a red hot start was all the Symmes Valley Vikings needed to rout the Clay Panthers 68-42 on Tuesday night in the season opener for the two Southern Ohio Conference teams. The Vikings were lead on the stat sheet by Key Roberts with a game-high 23 points and 7 rebounds. Both Bronx Carpenter and Mason Campbell finished with 14 points. Symmes Valley (1-0) was able to get a ton of pressure in the backcourt, resulting in 20 turnovers

CHILLICOTHE — It was exciting for the Fairland Dragons players, their fans, and their first-year head coach. Fairland slipped past the host Zane Trace Pioneers 59-58 in the Zane Trace High School Tip-Off Classic to give Scott Thomas his first career coaching win. The Dragons (1-0) took a 15-12 first quarter lead as Trevor Lochow scored 6 points, Cliff Fransen had 4 and Gerald Love hit a 3-pointer. Grady Stewart hit a 3-pointer and scored 7 points for Zane Trace in the quarter

PROCTORVILLE— Basketball is a team sport. As far as Scott Thomas is concerned, coaching is a team effort as well. Scott — who has been...

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