Ironton Tigers 25 VS Zanesville Blue Devils 51- FINAL

[ohbuckeye2]

2 perspectives, I guess = Ironton's and the wrong one. I should know better.

Give it a rest..........you guys won.

[Zanes-Vegas]

Oddly, you'd think Ironton did. Pyrrhic victory, of course. Enjoy!

[caglewis]

ZV - We know we lost the game and that Zanesville is a better team than Ironton.
But every time an Ironton fan posted anything supportive about our team or said anything positive regarding their performance, you immediately countered with ridicule - of our team, their efforts, and our expressions of support. Well, fans support their team win or lose; it's easy after a win, but more important after a tough loss to try to say something supportive!
Your oft repeated message was "your team is a joke and you're idiots to say otherwise". Could you not have just let us say "good effort and we appreciate it" to our team?

However, YOUR team LOST a game last night. Would you have liked their effort ridiculed?
Didn't you find their game [even though they lost] praiseworthy in any way and want to say so? Aren't you still proud of them? Don't you still support them?
Good - then please allow Ironton Fighting Tiger fans to express our pride in and support of our team despite the outcome of our game. P.S. We KNOW - you WON and we LOST!

[IHSTiger81]

No dog in this hunt, and I certainly wasnt at the game, but I would offer an observation and see how it plays out.

Everyone in the SEOAL is well aware that there are two state class teams in the league, and that there is a big drop off after those two. I note Z-V's crtiticism of the Ironton "game plan" as one that held the ball for a minute or more and then fired up a poor percentage shot. What he fails to take into account is how hard it is to hold onto the ball for any length of time against the ball hawkers from either of those two teams, and how much harder to get any shot off; much less a high percentage one.

I realize that a loss is a loss is a loss, but why would a coach take his kids 3 1/2 hours on a bus only to run and shoot and get run completely out of the gym by a 100+- 40 or 50 something?

Im sure everyone at the game knows it could have been much worse, and that Zanesville is exactly as advertised, but at GAHS Ive been on the wrong end of so many butt kickings this year, that "holding" any team to a respectible (20 or so) margin of defeat is more palatable.

Last week Chillicothe beat us 85-30 and it was 46-8 at the half. In truth, Coach Kellough rested his starters the last part of the second quarter and took his pressure off. It could have been much worse. Trust me! (lol)

I understand every coach has to do what he thinks is best for his team, and you'll never hear me complain about teams running the score up. Coach K got his starters their work in within the framework of the score, and none of their starters saw the fourth quarter. A gentleman of the first order. But everyone in the gym knew he could have practically name his score if he just wanted to.

In the same way, I think Coach Lafon did the best he could given the situation, and while everyone knows it could have been worse, 51-25 leaves his kids with a better feeling on that long bus ride home than a 50 point or more beatdown. I mean, Coach Lafon probably had practice Saturday and how do you recover or get your kids heads and attitudes back when they are embarrassed beyond belief?

Thanks! You are 100% correct on everything you stated-including the Saturday practice, at 10am. I have a son on the team and believe me when I say, they were more than happy to go home from Zanesville getting beat by only 26. Props to Zanesville. They have an excellent basketball team. Having said that, we were eating before the game and the couple sitting beside us struck up a conversation about the game. (Seeing as how we had orange and black on, it wasn't hard to figure out where we were from). They said a few people in town were a little disappointed in the coach this year because no matter how far ahead he is, he was leaving his starters in until only 3-4 minutes left in the game. His reason? They were so good last year, they didn't get to play entire games, so he felt like they deserved it this year. If that's the case, getting out of that gym with a score of 51-25.....we'll take that. Wonder if our shots would have fallen? Guess we'll never know. We are still VERY proud of our boys!

[osu 77]

No dog in this hunt, and I certainly wasnt at the game, but I would offer an observation and see how it plays out.

Everyone in the SEOAL is well aware that there are two state class teams in the league, and that there is a big drop off after those two. I note Z-V's crtiticism of the Ironton "game plan" as one that held the ball for a minute or more and then fired up a poor percentage shot. What he fails to take into account is how hard it is to hold onto the ball for any length of time against the ball hawkers from either of those two teams, and how much harder to get any shot off; much less a high percentage one.

I realize that a loss is a loss is a loss, but why would a coach take his kids 3 1/2 hours on a bus only to run and shoot and get run completely out of the gym by a 100+- 40 or 50 something?

Im sure everyone at the game knows it could have been much worse, and that Zanesville is exactly as advertised, but at GAHS Ive been on the wrong end of so many butt kickings this year, that "holding" any team to a respectible (20 or so) margin of defeat is more palatable.

Last week Chillicothe beat us 85-30 and it was 46-8 at the half. In truth, Coach Kellough rested his starters the last part of the second quarter and took his pressure off. It could have been much worse. Trust me! (lol)

I understand every coach has to do what he thinks is best for his team, and you'll never hear me complain about teams running the score up. Coach K got his starters their work in within the framework of the score, and none of their starters saw the fourth quarter. A gentleman of the first order. But everyone in the gym knew he could have practically name his score if he just wanted to.

In the same way, I think Coach Lafon did the best he could given the situation, and while everyone knows it could have been worse, 51-25 leaves his kids with a better feeling on that long bus ride home than a 50 point or more beatdown. I mean, Coach Lafon probably had practice Saturday and how do you recover or get your kids heads and attitudes back when they are embarrassed beyond belief?

Thanks! You are 100% correct on everything you stated-including the Saturday practice, at 10am. I have a son on the team and believe me when I say, they were more than happy to go home from Zanesville getting beat by only 26. Props to Zanesville. They have an excellent basketball team. Having said that, we were eating before the game and the couple sitting beside us struck up a conversation about the game. (Seeing as how we had orange and black on, it wasn't hard to figure out where we were from). They said a few people in town were a little disappointed in the coach this year because no matter how far ahead he is, he was leaving his starters in until only 3-4 minutes left in the game. His reason? They were so good last year, they didn't get to play entire games, so he felt like they deserved it this year. If that's the case, getting out of that gym with a score of 51-25.....we'll take that. Wonder if our shots would have fallen? Guess we'll never know. We are still VERY proud of our boys!

The boys are working hard to become a better ball team each week. Just think about the effort that must be taken to have such a long bus ride home and then have practise on Saturday morning. My hat is off to the boys and coaches on the Ironton team. Good Luck!

[tropicalbreeze]

As a Zanes fan, I have no problem with running a deliberate offense and limiting the amount of possessions by a superior athletic team. it happens in football and it happens in Basketball. We kinda of ridiculed Athens for trying to run and gun with us earlier, and Zanes won by 75 points (approx). With out a shot clock in High school BB, I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often! I know if frustrating to have to play defense for 3 and 4 minutes at a time, plus to the paying fan, it's not a fun game to watch. But in reality, if i'm the coach of the team who is undermanned, I don't care about how much fun the game is to watch, but I would care about my kids getting beat by 60 points!

[Zanes-Vegas]

You Ironton folks have been had.

I spent most of the past couple months reading all the crap on the football forum, mostly between Ironton and Logan posters. All that "Well, yeah" stuff. I was just biding my time.

While I have a deep respect for anyone's "tradition," it gets nauseating after awhile when you have it beat down over your head, ad infinitum.

That's how it feels.

You failed to acknowledge that I did note that Coach LaFon was working his butt off in this game, and that he did everything he could to keep his kids on task. I would figure, to your delight, that you'd note that I mentioned Logan tried the same thing, but eventually gave up on it. The only problem Ironton had with that methodology on Friday was that the Fighting Tigers didn't "finish" the possessions -- which was my lone criticism. You usually try to do so by finding a QUALITY shot -- and there were not many of them at the end of those long possessions.

And yet, they stayed with it, even when the scoreboard read 21-2 (or 23-4, at the half).

I saw a team working hard, a team with some decent athleticism, albeit undersized. I saw a staff working hard, albeit with players who have not yet developed some skills to make such a game plan work. I didn't notice any outward frustration. I also saw coaches who spent more time coaching and less time bellyaching to the refs (refreshing).

That was all I was indicating, yet you took umbrage with it. So I thought I'd just keep taking it to the next level.

As for our program, if you want to take it out on me, fine. Don't take it out on our kids.

[IHSTiger81]

Don't take it out on our kids. (quote from Z-V).

[Army]

All Right.....time out everybody.

Lets all get a big old SEOAL group hug and move forward. That game is over. Both Schools have great traditions

We'll see you tomorrow night Ironton, at your place.

Good Luck Fighting Tigers

ARMY

[Dshanton3]

zanes, over the last 2 seasons i've grown from despising you to respecting you but i gotta call a spade a spade here. you lecturing anyone on being beaten over the head with "tradition" talk is an oxy-moron.

[pembrook burrows III]

Zanesville has a great team, and I wish them well. Lafon is trying to get the kids to play with discipline, and the style he employed was the only chance we had to keep it within shouting distance. Down 12 with the ball late in the third period was about the best we could hope for at your place without a good shooting night. If Carter hits any shots in the game, we maybe get it down into single digits going into the fourth. But that didn't happen. I don't believe in moral victories, but I do believe in playing with intelligence and discipline. We have a ways to go, but the season is far from over for Ironton. I was pleased that the Tigers held Zanesville to 19-46 shooting, or 41%, which ain't bad. Tigers also outrebounded the Blue Devils 30-28 according to the Tribune stats, which is encouraging. Oh, and I understand there was only one dunk. That's one better than North College Hill had, at least until Bill Walker threw one down on us with about 10 seconds to go at The Schott in 2005. Hope to see you guys there this year.

[ZvilleBlueDevil]

Ironton wasn't playin too win common people it was playin too keep it close and that's the bottom line . So say what u want they should of just played a 4 corner offense instead of saying there were running any type of offense what ever u wanna call it.ZV is right.

[pembrook burrows III]

There's a lot of truth in what you say, Devil. However, I've always believed that if you can keep it close long enough, then a few funny bounces of the ball late might help you steal a win that you could not have gotten if you had played it straight up. If you don't believe me, just ask Villanova, an unheralded 8-seed, how they upset mighty Georgetown and Patrick Ewing in the National Championship by holding the ball in the last NCAA game ever played without a shot clock. And Ironton was outmanned by your fine Zanesville club way more than Villanova was in 1985. Sorry our tactics seemed to have spoiled everyone's fun last Friday night up in Muskingum County.

[biggdowgg]

shot clock????