GALLIPOLIS – For the Chesapeake Panthers, it won’t come easy.

Unable to hit easy open shots, the Panthers had to use a strong fourth quarter as they beat the Gallipolis Blue Devils 71-56 Tuesday in their season opener.

Chesapeake fell behind 16-14 at the end of the first quarter. The defense came alive and held Gallipolis to just four points in the second quarter as Chesapeake took a 31-20 halftime lead.

&uot;Instead of being up 18 we were up 11. We should have put them away early. Everyone was rushing things and forcing things. We were trying to do more than we could,&uot; Chesapeake coach Norm Persin said.

&uot;It was a typical first game. We missed five straight to start the game and they were wide-open layups.&uot;

Jayme Haggerty scored 11 in the third quarter as Gallipolis cut the deficit to 49-42. Jeffrey Thornburg had seven of his points in the quarter to keep the Panthers ahead.

P.J. Rase scored 13 points – 8 of 8 from the line – in the fourth quarter as the Panthers began to pull away.

&uot;We were lethargic in the second half, but we picked it up in the fourth quarter,&uot; Persin said.

Rase finished with 21 points as he made all 10 of his foul shots. Brent Ransbottom had 13 points and 10 rebounds while Tyler Shoemaker and Thornburg scored 11 points each.

Justin Porter pulled down 12 rebounds with Thornburg and Porter getting three steals each. Shoemaker had four assists.

Haggerty had 17 points, Shawn Thompson 14 and Jeff Golden 10 points.

Chesapeake14171822=71

Gallipolis1642214=56

CHESAPEAKE (1-0): Zach Morrison 0 0 0-0 0, Mike Stapleton 1 0 1-2 3, Caleb McComas 0 0 0-0 0, Tyler Shoemaker 1 2 3-4 11, Justin Porter 4 1 1-2 12, P.J. Rase 4 1 10-10 21, Jeffrey Thornburg 4 0 3-4 11, Brent Ransbottom 5 0 3-5 13. Totals: 23-47

4

21-27

71. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 36 (Porter 12, Ransbottom 10). Steals: 11 (Thornburg 3, Porter 3). Assists: 10 (Shoemaker 4). Turnovers: 11.

GALLIPOLIS (1-2):

Travis Stout 0 1 0-0 3, Shawn Thompson 5 0 4-4 14, Jeff Golden 3 1 1-3 10, Jayme Haggerty 3 2 5-6 17, Brad Caudill 2 0 1-2 5, Alex Kyger 2 0 0-0 4, Shaphen Robinson 0 0 0-0 0, David Rumbly 0 1 0-0 3. Toals 20-44

5 11-15

56. Fouls: 18.Fouled out: None.