SOUTH POINT — The second quarter kept the South Point Lady Pointers second. They hope it’s just temporarily.

South Point used a 26-point second quarter to built a 13-point halftime lead and then held on for a 67-63 win over the Chesapeake Lady Panthers Thursday to keep their Ohio Valley Conference title hopes alive.

After falling behind 12-10 at the end of the first quarter, Sarah Lee scored 9 points and Missy Wheeler and Ericka Leighty had 5 points each as South Point outscored Chesapeake 26-11 to take a 36-23 halftime lead.

“We got a lot of points from our press in the second quarter,” said Lady Pointers coach Dave Adams.

Senior Sarah Rucker, Chesapeake’s 6-3 center, scored 13 points in the third quarter as the Lady Panthers closed to within 50-42. Wheeler had 6 points to help South Point keep its lead.

“Rucker had only 6 points at the half but the other girls were shooting the ball well. We tried to switch up and take away the outside shot and it kind of backfired a little,” said Adams.

Rucker and Holly Black scored 6 points each in the fourth quarter as Chesapeake continued to rally.

But some clutch foul shooting down the stretch save the Lady Pointers who were 9 of 10 at the line. Lee hit two free throws while Wheeler was 4 of 4 including two with 1.5 seconds left to make it 67-63 and seal the win.

The win enabled South Point to remain one-half game behind Coal Grove in the OVC race.

The Lady Pointers need Coal Grove to lose Saturday to Rock Hill in order to gain a share of the OVC title.

Lee had 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead South Point (14-6, 8-2). Wheeler finished with 17 points and T’Ann Mayo added 11.

Rucker had a game-high 25 points for the Lady Panthers (9-11, 3-7). Black scored 14 points and Rachel Harris got 12 points including a pair of 3-pointers.

The game marked the final home appearance for seniors Raven Blake, Vanessa Rogers, Wheeler and Lee.

“All four of those girls are pretty good players and pretty good kids,” said Adams.

South Point plays Portsmouth at 6:45 p.m. Monday in the Division III sectional tournament at Lucasville Valley.

Chesapeake12111921=63

South Point10261417=67

CHESAPEAKE (9-11, 3-7): Rachel Harris 2 2 2-3 12, Holly Black 7 0 0-0 14, Paige Nelson 1 0 0-0 2, Courtney Heffner 2 0 0-0 4, Lexy Staton 1 0 4-4 6, Sarah Rucker 9 0 7-10 25. Totals: 22

2

13-17

63. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None.

SOUTH POINT (14-6, 8-2): Missy Wheeler 4 1 6-7 17, Caymie Collier 1 0 0-0 2, T’Ann Mayo 5 0 1-2 11, Vanessa Rogers 1 0 0-0 2, Sarah Lee 8 0 3-5 19, Ericka Leighty 3 0 2-3 8, Tinesha Taylor 3 0 2-2 8, Raven Blake 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 25

1

14-19

67. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None.