Talking Basketball
Published 3:33 am Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Usually, a coach wants his or her players to be quiet and listen to what their instructions. But there is a time and place for everything.
The time and place for the Chesapeake Lady Panthers to talk is on defense, and they talked up a storm Monday in a 47-45 win over the South Webster Lady Jeeps.
Bouncing back from a 20-point loss on Saturday to Coal Grove, Chesapeake put together a strong defensive effort to stun the Lady Jeeps.
“The girls communicated on defense. They were always talking to each other. That was the key,” said Lady Panthers’ coach Sammy Gue.
“Our girls played completely as a team. They never stopped. They played hard for all four quarters.”
Sarah Mayo had 17 points including the winning two free throws to lead Chesapeake (9-6) while Amanda Ruffner scored 16.
Kayla Cook scored 23 points for South Webster, but she was just 8-of-27 from the field.
“Cook is a real good player. She scored 23, but we really did a pretty good job on her,” said Gue.
Kimmie Bennett scored five points in the first quarter as Chesapeake took a 14-10 lead.
The Lady Panthers were up 21-15 at the half before the Lady Jeeps tied the game 29-29 at the end of the third quarter.
Cook drove for a layup to give South Webster a 45-43 lead, but Ruffner made to foul shots to tie game.
Mayo was fouled with four seconds left and converted both shots to give Chesapeake the win.
“That was a big game for our program. We needed that one. We’ve got some tough games coming up this week,” said Gue.
Chesapeake hosts Fairland on Wednesday and visits South Point on Thursday in a pair of Ohio Valley Conference games.
South Webster 10 5 14 16 = 45
Chesapeake 14 7 8 18 = 47
SOUTH WEBSTER (9-5): Tosha Blanton 1 0 0-0 2, Erin Moore 0 2 0-0 6, Erin Sherman 5 0 0-1 10, Briana Rawlins 2 0 0-0 4, Kayla Cook 6 2 5-8 23, Totals; 28 4 5-9 45. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: Sherman.
CHESAPEAKE (9-6): Sarah Mayo 1 3 6-8 17, Amanda Ruffner 4 1 5-6 16, Courtney Heffner 1 1 0-0 5, Allison Chapman 0 0 2-4 2, Kimmie Bennett 1 1 2-2 7. Totals: 7 6 15-20 47. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: None.
RESERVES: Chesapeake 26 (Ashley Jenkins 6, Sara Rice 5, Casey Underwood 5), South Webster 19 (Slanzka 8, Homeroski 7).