Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

Gayle Sayers wrote a book entitled, “I Am Third.” The Chesapeake Lady Panthers wrote a script on Saturday that was entitled, “I Am The Third Quarter.”

After trailing by one point at the half, the Lady Panthers dominated the Minford Lady Falcons 2-5 in the third quarter en route to a 58-42 win in the Tackett’s Body Shop Shootout at the Ironton Conley Sports Center.

“I thought the third quarter was one of the better third quarters we’ve played this year,” said Lady Panthers’ coach Chris Ball. “I thought we shared the basketball better than we have in a long time.”

Chesapeake (14-8) trailed the entire first half. That changed to begin the third quarter as Kaylee Curry had a putback at the 7:22 mark for a 26-25 lead and the Lady Panthers never trailed again.

Dominque Murphy followed with a 3-pointer as Chesapeake went on a 9-2 run and it was 33-27.

A layup by Jozy Jones with four seconds on the clock gave the Lady Panthers a 47-30 lead at the end of the quarter.

“We were able to play nine girls today, we played a variety of defenses, we got a few looks at people at different spots, so it was nice to get back on the winning track after losing three in a row,” said Ball.

Minford resorted to fouling in the fourth quarter in hopes of getting back into the game, but the Lady Panthers were 9-of-12 at the line including Murphy who was 6-of-8.

Chesapeake was 17-of-25 for the game.

“When you go back and check our games and compare our free throws when we won games there’s a drastic difference,” said Ball. “We missed a ton of free throws this year in close games that’s cost us.”

Minford started the game hitting 6-of-14 shots in the first quarter including a pair of 3-pointers by Marissa Risner as she and Erin Daniels combined for all of the Lady Falcons’ 14 points and a tie game.

Chesapeake took its only lead of the first half when Karli Davis hit a 3-pointer and Brook Webb made a foul shot and it was 24-23 with 32 seconds on the clock.

Daniels short jumper at the buzzer gave Minford its final lead at 25-24.

Curry had 18 points and 10 rebounds for Chesapeake while Murphy added 11.

Daniels scored 22 for Minford

The two teams will meet in a rematch on Saturday at Rock Hill High School in the Division III sectional tournament.

Chesapeake 14 10 23 11 = 58

Minford 14 11 5 12 = 42

CHESAPEAKE (14-8): Karli Davis 0 2 0-0 6, Kaylee Curry 7 1 1-2 18, Jozy Jones 2 0 0-1 4, Natalee Hall 1 0 5-6 7, Haley Stapleton 0 0 0-0 0, Dominique Murphy 0 1 8-10 11, Bailey Mills 1 1 0-0 5, Kelsey Huff 1 0 1-2 4, Brook Webb 1 0 1-4 3. Totals: 18-44 17-25 58. 3-point goals: 5-12. Rebounds: 10-O, 23-D = 33 (Curry 10). Team rebounds: 2. Assists: 8 (Hall 4). Steals: 8 (Webb 2, Murphy 2). Turnovers: 14. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.

MINFORD (NA): Erin Daniels 7 1 5-8 22, Marissa Risner 1 2 0-0 8, Ali Hammond 1 0 0-0 2, Mary Pca 2 0 0-1 4, AshleyBlankenship 1 0 2-6 4, Caitlyn Puckett 0 0 1-2 1, Zoe Doll 0 0 0-0 0, Marissa Watters 0 0 0- 0, Lyndlee Willis 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15-53 9015 42. 3-point goals: 3-16. Rebounds: 18-O, 20-D = 38 (Daniels 8, Risner 6, Puckett 5). Team rebounds: 5. Assists: 6. Steals: 5. Turnovers: 17. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Risner (4th 2:21).