Tigers edge Panthers, get early leg up in OVC race

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 Fighting Tigers once again mixed — and maxed — defense with offense, and edged the experienced Panthers 49-45 in front of a good pre-Christmas crowd.

Ironton only trailed 2-0, scored the next 10 points unanswered, and never trailed again.

But the biggest difference didn't materialize until the third quarter, when Ironton outscored Chesapeake 11-2 — as the Panthers made just one of 15 field-goal attempts in the eight-minute period, part of a nine-plus minute Chesapeake scoring drought.

Ironton opened its advantage to its largest at 43-32 following three, and although the Panthers pressed the issue and rallied to within 47-45 on their only three-pointer of the game, they never could quite catch the determined Fighting Tigers.

Maddix Markel made three of four free throws in the final 19 seconds, and Ironton emerged from Tuesday's tilt tied with defending conference champion Fairland for the OVC lead.

The Fighting Tigers are 5-0, and like the Dragons are 2-0 and tied atop the conference.

That tie won't last long, though, as Ironton travels to Fairland for Saturday night's makeup matchup — with the winner taking over sole possession of first place in the league.

Still, the win over the previously-undefeated — and truth be told talented and highly-touted — Panthers put a ribbon and bow on a solid seven opening nights of Ironton basketball for 2025's waning days.

The Panthers fell to 4-1 with the loss, and entering the Christmas holiday were tied with South Point and Portsmouth at 1-1 in the OVC.

Ironton won at South Point 10 days ago, while Fairland had its way with Portsmouth on Monday night.

But the Fighting Tigers' focus became clearer with the Chesapeake contest, as the Panthers — which return the nucleus of last season's Division V regional runner-up unit — swept Ironton last season, including 83-76 in overtime at Ironton.

Ironton first-year head coach Drew Stevens said, "hey listen, just because we won tonight, we're still chasing to get where they (Panthers) are."

"I will say this. I still think that Chesapeake could possibly be the (OVC) favorite. They had a great run last year. We're just trying to establish the program and play hard and play great defense. Maddox Kazee is a phenomenal scorer and (Chesapeake head coach) Steven Ater is a great coach. They did a really good job. We just knew that if we let the rope go too much, we may not get it back," said Stevens. "I'm proud of the guys that they never gave up and kept fighting."

Stevens referenced last season's home loss against the Panthers, in which Ironton amounted a 16-point fourth-quarter lead — before Chesapeake rallied and won in overtime.

This time, Ironton built a pair of eight-point first-half leads —at 10-2 in the first quarter and 21-13 in the second — only to see the Panthers close the gaps to 16-13 at the end of one and 32-30 at halftime.

As they did against Waterford and South Webster in their pair of Ironton Classic triumphs, the Fighting Tigers shot the ball well — primarily from the perimeter.

Stephen Ison made three first-half three-pointers, Brycen Mullins made three triples through three quarters, and Aiden Layne landed his six field goals through three periods — with four in the second stanza for eight points.

That followed his first-period old-fashioned three-point play, as Layne led the way with 15 points — on six deuces and 3-of-3 free throws.

Mullins finished with 13 with three threes and four made foul shots, as Layne's impressive double-double also included grabbing 19 rebounds.

Markel made a first-quarter basket, and Kayden Edwards scored twice through three quarters.

Still, no shot for Ironton arguably was larger than that of senior Carson Freeman —who off a Mullins assist splashed a corner pocket three-pointer to beat the third-period buzzer.

"I thought Carson's shot in the corner in front of our bench off the penetration was huge," said Stevens. "Carson plays great defense for us, but he very seldom gets any really wide open looks or any opportunities to shoot. But he had a great opportunity there tonight and knocked it down."

The Fighting Tigers took a sizable, and somewhat surprising to many observers, 43-32 advantage entering the fourth.

"Stephen Ison and Brycen Mullins making shots again. Ashton Layne with 15 points and 19 rebounds, controlling the glass. And against a team like Chesapeake, which is a very physical team and very good at rebounding the basketball," said Stevens. "Ashton limited some of those second chances and third chances to just one shot and misses and we were out and running."

Kaden Perkins posted the Panthers' only third-period points — a field goal only 46 seconds into the quarter.

They made five first-quarter field goals and seven more in the second —along with 6-of-9 freebies to keep pace with Ironton.

But they missed 14 third-period shots, some of which were quite makable, but credit the Fighting Tiger defense for tightening up and contesting Chesapeake's attempts.

However, Freeman's field goal was indeed Ironton's final —as the Panthers roared back one last time, and limited the Fighting Tigers to just 6-of-14 free throws in the final eight minutes.

Maddox Kazee's canto kamikaze spearheaded the Chesapeake comeback, as he scored nine of his team-high 14 in the fourth —finishing with six total field goals and a first-quarter free throw.

His three-pointer finally got the Panthers to within 47-45 inside the final two minutes, but Chesapeake found itself forced to foul — and Markel made his game-sealing foul shots.

Although Ironton only made 10-of-19 at the line, Stevens said his squad needed exactly all 10 of them.

"We just couldn't get a field goal in that fourth quarter. We hit some foul shots at least. I really think some of the guys got nervous, because they were thinking about what happened to us last year," said the coach. "They were playing not to lose as opposed to continuing to play to win."

But, bottom line, Ironton emerged with that important OVC victory against the quality Panthers.

Chesapeake had a 19-16 advantage in total field goals, but Ironton owned the Panthers from beyond the arc (7-1).

Stevens had high praise for Chesapeake, which also got 11 points from Perkins, a first-half nine from Karson Frecka, a first-half seven from Jon Cooper-Barker, and four from Dennis Scarberry.

"It's phenomenal for us. Like I said, they (Panthers) are arguably the best team in this area. They returned everybody from the run they made to the regional final last year. They are still a great basketball team, regardless of tonight," said Stevens, of the win. "We still have to go there and play them and that's going to be very tough."

Speaking of very tough, there's no rest for the wicked, and that includes the Christmas holiday.

The Fighting Tigers travel to Fairland for Saturday night's showdown.

"We have a very short bounce-back. It's tough," said Stevens. "But I am very proud of our guys. They have bought into what we're doing and they are buying into playing defense. That's not always easy to do. The culture of just the defensive effort is really helping us offensively. That's one thing...effort doesn't require a lot. We don't have to hit shots in order to play defense. That's something hopefully we'll bring every single night."

Chesapeake 13   17     2   13  =  45

Ironton     16   16   11    6  =  49

CHESAPEAKE (4-1, 1-): Jon Cooper-Barker 3 0 1-2 7, Andrew Isaacs 0 0 0-0 0, Kaden Perkins 4 0 3-4 11, Dennis Scarberry 2 0-0 4, Maddox Kazee 5 1 1-4 14, Philip Thacker 0 0 0-0 0, Karson Frecka 4 0 1-1 9, Andy Chapman 0 0-0 0; TOTALS: 18 1 6-11 45; Fouls: 16; Fouled out: None.

IRONTON (5-0, 2-0): Maddix Markel 1 0-0 3-6 5, Ashton Layne 6 0 3-3 15, Brycen Mullins 3 4-10 13, Carson Freeman 1 0-0 3, Kayden Edwards 2 0-0 4, Stephen Ison 0 3 0-0 9, Zayne Williams 0 0 0-0 0; TOTALS 9 7 10-19 49; Fouls: 11; Fouled out: None.