They couldn’t stop the Cop.

Nathan Copley scored 30 points and keyed a big third quarter comeback as the Chesapeake Panthers bounced the Huntington (W.Va.) Highlander 82-64 Monday in the first annual Ironton Classic.

The Panthers (3-1) trailed much of the first half. The Highlanders were up 36-26 midway through the second quarter and they led 45-37 at the break.

That’s when Chesapeake coach Ryan Davis challenged his team at halftime.

“We gave a better effort,” said Davis. “We just played harder. We didn’t do anything different, we just did it better.”

The Panthers fell behind 51-40 with less than six minutes to go in the third quarter when Copley went to work and sparked a scoring surge. Copley scored 11 straight points during a 22-6 run to give Chesapeake a 62-57 lead.

Chesapeake outscored Huntington 30-12 in the quarter.

“We were doing alright, but then we had some breakdowns. We didn’t play well the first half, but we played better the second half,” said Davis.

Copley, who was named the Panthers Player of the Game, was joined in double figures by Kyle Webb with 16 points, Peter Hintz 15 points, and Trent Saunders 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Huntington’s Player of the Game was J.J. Martin who had 25 points. Xavier Humphrey scored 15 points.

“They have some shooters,” Davis said of the Highlanders.

The Panthers can shoot, too. They were 27 of 59 from the field for 46 percent and they were 9 of 20 from behind the 3-point arc.

Huntington (0-2) was 29 of 60 for 48 percent, but they were 0-for-5 from the foul line and the Panthers were 19 of 24.

Chesapeake 18 19 30 15 = 82

Huntington 20 25 12 7 = 64

CHESAPEAKE (3-1): Peter Hintz 3 3 0-0 15, Nathan Copley 4 4 10-11 30, Matt Angle 0-0 0-0 2-2 2, Kyle Webb 4 2 2-5 16, Trent Saunders 4 0 5-6 13, Drew Brock 0 0 0-0 0, Colton Lindsey 1 0 0-0 2, Travis Zimmerman 2 0 0-0 4, Seth Ransbottom 0 0 0-0 0, Gunner Hill 0 0 0-0 0, Seth Skeens 0 0 0-0 0, Brandon Noble 0 0 0-0 0, Dylan Nichols 0 0 0-0 0, Patrick Hintz 0 0 0-0 0, Austin McMaster 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 27-59 19-24 82. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 9-20. Rebounds: 8-18=26 (Saunders 10, Webb 5). Assists: 8 (Pe. Hintz 3, Copley 3, Webb 2). Steals: 6 (Angle 2, Copley 2). Turnovers: 7.

HUNTINGTON (0-2): Tyler Hutchinson 2 1 0-0 7, C.J. Crawford 2 0 0-2 4,Trace Dempsey 4 0 0-0 8, J.J. Martin 8 3 0-1 25, Xavier Humphrey 6 1 0-2 15, Joey Christian 0 1 0-0 3, Chase Baker 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 29-60 0-5 64. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: Humphrey. 3-point goals: 6-23. Rebounds: 10-18=28 (Crawford, Martin, Baker 6 each). Assists: 10 (Hutchinson 5). Steals: 3 (Dempsey 2). Turnovers: 16.