The big men came up big.

Using their size advantage, the Chesapeake Panthers went inside the second half and opened up a close game as they beat the Ironton Fighting Tigers 50-37 Friday night.

Matt Rucker, a 6-foot-6 center, had a season-high 13 points including 6 in the third quarter when the Panthers began to pull away. Aiding the win was 6-4 Aaron Gossett who had seven rebounds and was 8 of 10 from the line as he scored 14 points.

"Rucker was huge," Panthers coach Norm Persin said. "The first half we played too fast. We started setting up our offense the second half and going inside. Rucker got us going."

Keeping things going was Nick Karle who used his driving layups to score a game-high 16 points for the Panthers (4-1).

"Karle got a couple of steals and did a good job, and we got good minutes off our bench from (Timmy) Thacker and (Bobby) Evans. They did their jobs and we were able to keep the lead," Persin said.

Cold-shooting was a factor as Ironton lost its first game of the season. The Fighting Tigers were a woeful 11 of 48 from the field for 22.9 percent, and just 10 of 17 from the foul line.

Coach Roger Zornes could only shake his head as his team showed its age. Ironton did not start a senior in contrast to the Panthers who started four seniors.

"To say we were tight is putting it mildly. And I don't understand. I was telling jokes and trying to loosen them up, but we never did. That's what happens when you're playing with young kids," Zornes said.

"We got good looks, we just rushed shots or guided them or changed our shooting motion. It got so bad everyone was reluctant to shoot even if they were open."

Ironton (7-1) led 9-6 at the end of the first quarter, but five straight points by Karle gave the Panthers a 13-9 lead.

Josh Sands hit a 3-pointer with 1:06 left in the half to draw Ironton even at 17-17. Thacker's two foul shots with 38 seconds left gave the Panthers a 19-17 halftime edge.

Gossett hit a short baseline jumper and two fouls shots, and Karle had a layup as the Panthers lead grew to 25-17 to begin the second half. The lead was 31-18 after a steal and layup by Karle, and Rucker's layup with four seconds left made it 35-23 at the end of the quarter.

Sands made another 3-pointer and two foul shots, and Brigham Waginger stole the ball and converted a 3-point play, and Sands nailed another 3-pointer with 3:47 left as Ironton closed to within 38-34.

But with Ironton forced to foul, the Panthers converted 11 of 18 from the line in the fourth quarter with Gossett making 6 of 8 over the final 48 seconds.

Sands led Ironton with 13 points. Patrick Kouns came off the bench to score 10 and Derique Bacon had seven rebounds.

Chesapeake was 17 of 34 from the field for 50 percent with 15 of the field goals being layups.

In the reserve game, Ironton (8-0) won 35-34 as Marcus Williams scored 11 points, Shawn Miller 7, and Aaron Quinn 6. Trent Finley had 16 points and P. J. Rase 10 for the Panthers.

Chesapeake6131615--59

Ironton98614--37

CHESAPEAKE (4-1):

Adam Skeens 1-4 (0-0) 0-0 2, Aaron Gossett 3-5 (0-0) 8-10 14, Nick Karle 6-10 (0-2) 4-6 16, Daniel Thompson 1-4 (0-2) 1-2 3, Matt Rucker 6-9 (0-0) 1-2 13, T. R. Hannan 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Timmy Thacker 0-1 (0-0) 2-2 2, P. J. Rase 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Bobby Evans 0-0 (0-0) 0-1) 0. Totals: 17-34

(0-4)

16-23

50. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: Thacker (4th 1:08). Rebounds: 3-27=30 (Gossett 7, Rucker 5, Thompson 5) Team/deadball rebounds: 3. Assists: 9 (Thompson 3, Thacker 2, Rucker 2). Steals: 4 (Thompson 2, Karle 2). Turnovers: 20.

IRONTON (7-1):

Josh Sands 3-9 (3-6) 4-8 13, Brigham Waginger 2-14 (1-6) 1-1 6, Joe Zornes 1-8 (1-1) 0-0 3, Nick Collins 0-2 (0-0) 0-0 0, Derique Bacon 1-1 (0-0) 1-2 3, Dennis Gagai 0-9 (0-3) 2-3 2, Kevin Williams 0-0 (0-0) 0-1 0, Patrick Kouns 4-4 (0-0) 2-2 10, Aaron Quinn 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Andrew Harvey 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Steve Elswick 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Brent McBride 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 11-48

(5-16)

10-17

37. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: Zornes

(4th :20). Rebounds: 11-15=26 (Bacon 7, Waginger 4, Kouns 4). Team/deadball rebounds: 3. Steals: 9 (Waginger 4, Sands 2). Assists: 6 (Waginger 4). Turnovers:16.