PROCTORVILLE - Another season, another Ohio Valley Conference championship.

For the ninth straight season, the Chesapeake Panthers will own a piece of the OVC basketball title after beating the Fairland Dragons 65-46 Tuesday.

Chesapeake clinched at least a share of the league crown for the ninth year in a row. The Panthers, 16-2 overall and 7-2 in the OVC, can win the title outright with any combination of a Rock Hill loss or Chesapeake win.

Rock Hill plays at Fairland Friday, then hosts Chesapeake the following Friday. Rock Hill needs to win both games to gain a share of the title.

"We'll take it," Panthers coach Norm Persin said. "When the season started, we didn't think we'd be 16-2. We're young. We have one kid back who played a lot. The kids have responded. But we still have two to play. We may not have the best talent in the area, but we find ways to win."

P.J. Rase scored 16 points and had five assists to lead the Panthers. Andy Stapleton had 14 points, five rebounds and four steals. Daniel Thompson added 11 points.

Kendall Staggs scored a career-high 30 points - 21 in the second half - and had four steals to lead Fairland (6-11, 2-6). Matt Clark had eight rebounds.

Thompson scored seven points in the first quarter as Chesapeake went up 15-12.

But Fairland was only one of 10 from the field in the second quarter and scored just four points as Chesapeake went up 30-16 at the half.

"The second quarter killed us," Fairland coach John McClung said. "If we shoot anything the second quarter, we might be in the game. But the kids played hard."

The Panthers' press forced Fairland into 18 turnovers for the game.

"We guarded pretty good and got a lot of turnovers with our press. We came out with some intensity, which we have to. And we shot the ball better," Persin said.

McClung agreed that the Dragons woes were due to the Panthers defense.

"Their pressure was intense tonight. We had 18 turnovers and they got 18 more shots than us. It's hard to beat a team like Chesapeake when they're getting that many more shots," McClung said.

Rase scored seven points in the third quarter and the Panthers pulled away to a 49-31 lead.

Staggs burned the nets for 13 points in the fourth quarter, but Stapleton and Justin Porter had six points each as the Panthers maintained their lead.

Chesapeake15151916-65

Fairland1241515-46

CHESAPEAKE (16-2, 7-2):

Brennan Hall 2 0 4-4 8, Daniel Thompson 4 1 0-0 11, Justin Porter 2 1 0 2-3 9, P.J. Rase 2 2 6-6 16, Trent Finley 2 0 1-2 5, Andy Stapleton 6 0 2-3 14, Jeremy Miller 1 0 0-0 2, McComas 0 0 0-0 0, Mike Stapleton 0 0 0-0 0, Dustin O'Brien 0 0 0-0 0, Jeff Thornburg 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-56

(4)

15-19

65. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 27 (A. Stapleton 5, Porter 5). Steals: 14 (A. Stapleton 4). Assists: 12 (Rase 5). Turnovers: 10.

FAIRLAND (6-11,

2-6):

Kendall Staggs 4 5 7-8 30, Kyle Wise 0 0 2-2 2, Nolan Love 0 1 0-0 3, Matt Clark 2 0 2-2 6, Jeremy Pritt 2 0 1-2 5, Daniel Spears 0 0 0-0 0, Matt Burd 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-40

(6)

12-14

46. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 22 (Clark 8, Pritt 4, Wise 4). Steals: 5 (Staggs 4). Turnovers: 18