ATHENS – So this is how Townson State might feel after playing Duke in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Thursday, February 22, 2001

ATHENS – So this is how Townson State might feel after playing Duke in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The first round of the Division III sectional tournament exhibited a similar type blowout Wednesday as the Chesapeake Panthers plastered the Crooksville Ceramics 68-29.

"We played well early. We lost some concentration after we got the big lead. The kids got in rhythm and got us going. We just played solid and pushing the ball," Chesapeake coach Norm Persin said.

Four Chesapeake starters reached double figures despite playing only about half the game.

Josh Waugh scored 14 points and Zeb Best 13 to lead the Panthers. Bobby Barbour and Anthony Delimpo had 10 points each.

Brady Dalrymple’s six points were the most by any Crooksville player.

The Panthers (20-1) now play Albany Alexander at 6:15 p.m. Saturday in the sectional finals.

"It’s good to get on the floor and get a win. Every step gets tougher. Alexander has a pretty good team. We have to neutralize what they do best," said Persin. "They beat a good South Webster team. They held Lower to xx points and he had 55 last Friday, so they did a good job defensively."

The game was over almost before it got started. Chesapeake raced to a 15-0 lead before Joe Powell’s layup at the 2:10 mark got Crooksville (0-21) on the scoreboard.

Waugh had six points to key to opening run and Best had three straight steals to get the Panthers off and running.

Delimpo had a layup, Best scored twice inside, and Barbour’s layup with one second left gave Chesapeake a 23-2 lead at the end of the quarter.

Things only got worse for Crooksvillle the second quarter.

Barbour hit a 15-footer, then stole the ball and went in for a layup. Beckett Gue followed with a layup and Delimpo followed up a missed shot and it was 31-2 with 5:10 left in the half.

Dalrymple’s free throw halted the run but the Panthers Aaron Gossett’s 17-footer with 20 seconds left stretched the lead to 37-5 at the half.

Chesapeake’s lead was 57-17 on an 8-footer by Adam Webb with one minute left in the third quarter. Two foul shots by Wes Wolfe made it 57-19.

Nick Karle scored seven points the fourth quarter to lead the Panthers second unit. Karle’s steal and layup with 57 seconds to play gave Chesapeake its biggest lead at 68-26.