Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

CHESAPEAKE — It’s like a compact car. A lot of good basketball all crammed into one gym for one day.

The fourth annual Beast of the Southeast will be held Saturday at Chesapeake High School. Four games will be played and the match-ups will be a virtual sneak peek at the top teams when tournament time rolls around.

“There are eight teams and all of them have been playing well lately. There should be some great match-ups,” said Panthers’ coach Ryan Davis.

South Webster (7-3) stumbled on Tuesday to Waverly, but they were coming off a 61-49 win over Wheelersburg last Friday.

The Jeeps are led by Levi Cook and Lance Swords,

Vinton County (9-2) are leading the Tri-Valley Conference Ohio Division.

The Vikings are led by Bryce Owings, Alex Owings, Matt Smallwood and Jordan Kidd.

Fairland (8-3) takes on Athens (7-2) who is one of the top challengers to Vinton County in the TVC.

The Bulldogs beat Chesapeake in the first game of the regular season 60-47 and also own a 56-53 win over Logan Elm who plays Eastern Brown in the 6 p.m. game.

Athens is led by Joe Burrow and Ibi Watson.

Chesapeake (7-4) faces Waverly and the Tigers have been hot lately.

Waverly (4-7) upset unbeaten Oak Hill 52-50 last week, and then knocked off then-Southern Ohio Conference II leader South Webster 55-43 on Tuesday.

Phillip Hart scored 27 points to lead Waverly.

The Panthers have only one starter back from last season — Javon Thompson — but have been improving.

Chesapeake has had a balanced offense. Thompson, Nick Duffield, Caleb Heffner and Caleb Lindsey share the offensive load.

Tickets for all four games are $7 at the door. Here is the schedule:

2 p.m. — South Webster vs. Vinton County

4 p.m. — Fairland vs. Athens

6 p.m. — Eastern Brown vs. Logan Elm

8 p.m. — Chesapeake vs. Waverly