JACKSON — If the Chesapeake Panthers get things going their way, then things just seem to go their way.

Once Chesapeake got the tempo of the game in their favor, the Panthers took advantage of the style of play and beat the Belpre Eagles 70-56 Friday to win the Division III sectional tournament.

“We were trying to force the issue in the first quarter and we weren’t taking advantage of our opportunities,” said Panthers’ coach Ryan Davis.

“Once we got the tempo going the way we wanted, we started hitting our shots and then we started playing better defense in the second half.”

Chesapeake (17-4) had four players in double figures led by Kyle Webb with 19 points including 10-of-12 from the foul line. Trent Saunders had 15poitns and 11 rebounds, Nathan Copley score 16 to go with eight rebounds, and Peter Hintz added 10 points and four assists despite playing with a touch of the flu.

“We just played hard,” said Saunders. “We had some people step up. We started to guard in the second half and everything worked out for us.”

The Panthers struggled with unforced turnovers in the first quarter and consequently got off just seven field goal attempts.

But once the pace changed in the second quarter, the Panthers got the lead for good while forcing Belpre into eight turnovers.

A 3-pointer by Hintz gave the Panthers the lead at 14-11 to start the quarter and a 6-0 spurt on treys by Hintz and Copley opened up a 20-13 lead with 5:53 left in the half.

Belpre was within 30-26 only to watch Copley drain a triple to give the Panthers a 33-27 halftime lead.

Chesapeake used a spurt at the end of the third quarter to go up 44-33 after an 8-footer by Colton Lindsey and a foul shot by Webb.

Copley’s 3-pointer pushed the lead to 47-35 only to have Belpre’s Markie Tate hit his own trey at the buzzer and it was 47-38.

The Panthers continued to push the issue. Webb made two foul shots the put the lead at 55-42 with 5:27 to go. Tate hit another 3-pointer to get Belpre within 55-48 with 4:06 left, but the Eagles would get no closer.

Belpre was forced to foul over the final 2:20 and the Panthers converted 11-of-13 free throw attempts.

“We did a nice job of staying focused and making our foul shots,” said Davis.

Chesapeake will play in the district semifinals at 2 p.m. next Sunday at Ohio University against Lucasville Valley.

Tate led Belpre (9-13) with 16 points. Tyler Watkins scored 14, Scott Loyland 13 and Jared Azar 10.

Belpre 11 16 11 18 = 56

Chesapeake 11 22 14 23 = 70

BELPRE (9-13): Erik Waderker 0 0 0-0 0, Channing Parsons 0 1 0-0 3, Scott Loyland 6 0 1-1 13, Markie Tate 3 3 1-2 16, Jared Azar 50 0-1 10, Tyler Watkins 6 0 2-4 14, Kelvin Eaton 0 0 0-0 0, Pat Slattery 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-63 4-8 56. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Parons (4th 1:36). 3-point goals: 4-21. Rebounds: 17-13=30 (Loyland 8, Parsons 5). Team/deadball rebounds: 7. Assists: 13 (Tate 6). Steals: 9 (Loyland 3, Parsons 2, Waderker 2). Turnovers: 19.

CHESAPEAKE (17-4): Peter Hintz 1 2 2-2 10, Nathan Copley 2 3 3-4 16, Matt Angle 2 0 0-0 4, Kyle Webb 3 1 10-12 19, Trent Saunders 5 0 5-6 15, Colton Lindsey 2 0 0-0 4, Austin McMaster 1 0 0-0 2, Travis Zimmerman 0 0 0-0 0, Drew Brock 0 0 0-0 0, Patrick Hintz 0 0 0-0 0, Gunner Hill 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-43 20-24 70. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: Angle (4th 5:35). 3-point goals: 6-18. Rebounds: 7-23=30 (Saunders 11, Copley 8). Assists: 8 (Hintz 4, Copley 2). Steals: 5 (Saunders 2, Copley 2). Turnovers: 19.