Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

CHESAPEAKE — The Chesapeake Panthers could see the forest through the tress.

With Ironton having to account for 6-foot-8 Aaron Thompson and 6-6 Brad Meadows on the inside, the Chesapeake guards were licking their lips as they connected on 10-of-20 3-point shots in a 65-55 Ohio Valley Conference win over the Fighting Tigers on Friday.

“I didn’t think our bigs were real active in the first half. Them being there got us some really good looks. I don’t think we hit too many tough shots,” said Panthers’ coach Ryan Davis.

Gage Rhoades led the long-range shooting barrage with 4-of-9 from behind the arc and he finished with 21 points. Jake Stevens hit three 3-pointers and had 14 points while Nate Smith had a pair of long bombs to score 10 points.

Meadows finished with 13 rebounds while Thompson had 8 points and eight rebounds for the first-place Panthers (18-1, 9-1).

“(Rhoades) was very patient. The times when he hasn’t shot well — like at Ironton he was real quick —he was patient tonight. I think he took maybe two bad shots. Other than that, they were pretty good shots.”

Joe Bowling had a game-high 23 points to lead Ironton. Tristan Cox had 12 points and Phillip Kratzenberg scored 10.

Dylan Malone added 8 points and had 11 rebounds.

“Ironton hit a couple of tough shots in the second half. Cox hit one with Stevens right in his face from about 17. Bowling hit a couple of decent tough shots. Bowling was on fire. He played really well,” said Davis.

Last week the Panthers lost at Portsmouth — their only loss of the season. Davis said the defense was a key along with a 35-24 rebound advantage including 14 on the offensive end.

“I don’t think offensively was a problem (last week) as defensively. We were just all over the place. We were a lot better defensively today minus a couple few little things. Overall, we were pretty good and I think we rebounded the ball pretty well,” said Davis.

Chesapeake was 20-or-46 from the field while Ironton was 21-of-47 but only 6-of-18 from behind the arc.

“We took many 3s and we just didn’t play that well. We weren’t as aggressive as we’ve been in other games,” said Ironton coach Mark LaFon.

“We made some mistakes and the thing about Chesapeake is they execute and don’t make mistakes that beat themselves.”

Rhoades hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start the game for a 6-0 lead and the Panthers never trailed.

Ironton (10-9, 5-4) got within 10-8 on a 12-footer by Bowling with 1:20 left in the quarter, but Smith hit his two triples over the final minute for a 16-8 lead.

Stevens added a 3-pointer to begin the second quarter and another triple by Kolton Webb opened up a 25-10 lead with 4:12 left in the half.

A short jumper by Bowling and a 3-ball by Kratzenberg cut the deficit to 30-21. Austin Carpenter had a layup for the Panthers but Cox made a layup at the buzzer and it was 32-23 at the break.

A trifecta by Cox got Ironton with 34-28 with 6:30 on the third quarter clock, but the Panthers got 3-pointers from Rhoades and Stevens to lead 45-30. The lead was 49-34 at the end of the quarter.

A layup by Thompson gave the Panthers their biggest lead at 54-37 early in the fourth quarter.

Ironton refused to quit and got within 59-47 on a 3-ball by Bowling with 1:11 left. But Ironton was forced to foul and the Panthers were 6-of-8 from the line over the final minute to seal the win.

Chesapeake hosts Minford on Tuesday. Ironton entertains South Point next Friday on senior night.

Ironton 8 15 11 21 = 55

Chesapeake 16 16 17 16 = 65

IRONTON (10-9, 5-4): Phillip Kratzenberg 2 2 0-0 10, Joe Bowling 6 2 5-6 23, Tristan Cox 3 2 0-0 12, Marques Davis 0 0 0-0 0, Desmond Young 0 0 2-6 2, Tanner Price 0 0 0-0 0, Dylan Malone 4 0 0-0 8, Raphael Glover 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-47 7-12 55. 3-point goals: 6-18. Rebounds: 8-off. 16-def. = 24 (Malone 11, Bowling 5). Team/deadball rebounds: 1. Assists: 7 (Young 2, Malone 2). Steals: 10 (Davis 3, Cox 2, Bowling 2). Turnovers: 10. Blocked shots: 1 (Malone). Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None.

CHESAPEAKE (18-1, 9-1): Kolton Webb 0 1 0-0 3, Nate Smith 1 2 2-2 10, Gage Rhoades 2 4 5-7 21, Brad Meadows 1 0 5-8 7, Aaron Thompson 4 0 0-0 8, Jake Stevens 1 3 3-4 14, Austin Carpenter 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 20-46 15-21 65. 3-point goals: 10-20. Rebounds: 14-off. 21-def. = 35 (Meadows 13, Thompson 8). Team/deadball rebounds: 5. Assists: 7 (Smith 4). Steals: 4 (Stevens 2). Turnovers: 13. Blocked shots: 2 (Meadows, Thompson). Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.