For the Chesapeake Panthers, it’s strength in numbers.

Wednesday, December 27, 2000

For the Chesapeake Panthers, it’s strength in numbers.

Relying on its bench strength, Chesapeake pulled away in the second half and beat the Ironton Fighting Tigers 57-38 Tuesday in a game between two unbeatens.

Chesapeake (6-0) trailed at the end of the first quarter and led by just four points at the half. But Adam Webb led the bench play that sparked a strong second half as the Panthers gradually pulled away.

Webb came off the bench to score 11 points. Zeb Best led the Panthers with 14 points and seven rebounds while Anthony Delimpo had 12 points and seven rebounds.

"We didn’t shoot well, but we played better defense the second half and our depth wore them down," Panthers coach Norm Persin said. "Best stepped it up on the offensive boards. Webb plays so smart and aggressive. He’s been that way the last three or four games. And (Aaron) Gossett did some good things."

Chris Haney had 12 points and nine rebounds to lead Ironton (4-1) while Isaac Hannon added 11 points.

"Their depth wore us down," Ironton coach Chris Barnes said. "They did what they should have done. They ran a lot of people at us and wore us down. That’s the first game we’ve been outrebounded. They hurt us on the offensive boards."

Chesapeake held a 28-26 edge on the boards, but its was 12-8 on the offensive end including eight the second half.

Ironton built a 14-8 lead with 1:26 left in the first quarter when Drew Mains hit Haney for a layup, but a 3-pointer by Bobby Barbour moments later narrowed the gap.

The lead changed hands four times the second quarter until Delimpo’s short jumper at the 3:22 mark gave the Panthers the lead for good at 18-17.

Webb made two foul shots and a basket to extend the lead to 22-17. Hannon’s 3-pointer cut the spread to 22-20, but Delimpo’s layup with just under a minute made it 24-20.

Hannon hit a 17-footer halfway through the third quarter to cut Chesapeake’s lead to 32-26. The Panthers then finished the quarter with an 11-4 run including a 3-pointer by Beckett Gue just before the buzzer to extend the lead to 43-30.

"That was a big shot. That made it tough for us to come back," said Barnes.

The Fighting Tigers were just 3-of-14 from the field the fourth quarter as the Panthers maintained their lead.

Webb’s 3-pointer with 4:33 left pushed the lead to 51-36. Chris Frazer’s short jumper got Ironton within 51-38, but Chesapeake got two layups by Delimpo’s and a pair of free throws from Gossett with 2:17 left and it was 57-38.

The reserves finished up the final two minutes.

Chesapeake 11 13 19 14 – 57

Ironton 14 6 10 8 – 38

CHESAPEAKE (6-0): Bobby Barbour 3-9 (2-3) 1-3 9, Josh Waugh 3-8 (0-0) 0-0 6, Beckett Gue 1-2 (1-2) 0-0 3, Zeb Best 5-8 (0-0) 4-5 14, Anthony Delimpo 6-11 (0-0) 0-2 12, Adam Webb 4-4 (1-1) 2-2 11, Aaron Gossett 0-2 (0-1) 2-3 2, Matt Miller 0-2 (0-0) 0-0 0, Brad Fulton 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Joey Macri 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Abe Huff 0-1 (0-1) 0-0 0. Totals: 22-49 (4-8) 9-15 57. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 12-16=28 (Best 7, Delimpo 7, Waugh 5). Deadball/team rebounds: 1. Assists: 9 (Gossett 3, Barbour 3). Steals: 9 (Barbour 3, Miller 2, Waugh 2). Turnovers: 21.

IRONTON (4-1): Drew Mains 0-4 (0-1) 2-3 2, Isaac Hannon 4-12 (2-7) 1-2 11, Chris Haney 6-7 (0-0) 0-2 12, Josh Harmon 1-6 (0-1) 1-2 3, Tommy Lutz 2-5 (0-0) 4-6 8, Chris Frazer 1-4 (0-1) 0-0 2, Andy Brown 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Josh Sands 0-2 (0-1) 0-0 0, Andrew Harvey 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Craig Lewis 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 14-36 (2-11) 8-15 38. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Mains. Rebounds: 8-18=26 (Haney 9, Lutz 5, Mains 4). Deadball/team rebounds: 1. Assists: 7 (Haney 2, Mains 2). Steals: 7 (Haney 6). Turnovers: 25.

Junior Varsity: Chesapeake 46, Ironton 44, OT. Chesapeake: Matt Rucker 16, Nick Karle 14. Ironton: Josh Sands 15, Ben Murphy 9.