CHESAPEAKE — Coach Ryan Davis kept waiting. And waiting and waiting.

Finally.

As the minutes ticked away for three quarters, Davis wasn’t sure when his Chesapeake Panthers were going to make their move.

The Panthers finally made their move at the start of the fourth quarter and managed to use the scoring spurt to get past the South Point Pointers 68-61 Friday in a battle for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference.

“I’m not sure we were focused a lot early. I thought we played tentative tonight. In the fourth quarter our defense got more aggressive with what we were doing,” said Davis.

Trailing most of the game including 42-40 heading into the fourth quarter, the Panthers finally got things going on a consistent basis.

Nathan Copley hit his first — and only — 3-pointer of the game to give the Panthers a 45-42 lead. Blake Barnes answered with his own trifecta for the Pointers to tie the game again.

With the game 47-47, Austin McMaster drained a trey at the 4:22 mark and the Panthers led for good at 50-47.

Chesapeake led by as much at 63-53 with 49 seconds left on two foul shots by Copley.

South Point got a 3-pointer from Kyle Winkler, but the Panthers were 5-of-6 from the line over the final 36 seconds to seal the outcome.

With the win Chesapeake (12-3) takes over sole possession of first place in the OVC at 7-0. South Point goes to 10-6 overall and 6-1 in the league.

The two teams will meet in round two on Friday, Feb. 19, at South Point.

“It was a knock down, drag out between two undefeated (in the league), good teams going at it,” said Pointers’ coach Chris Barnes.

“They were favored to win the league and we were picked third. I told my guys after the game all (Chesapeake) did was hold serve at home. Now we have to take care of Rock Hill and Coal Grove so we can do the same at our place. We still have a chance at the title if we take care of our business.”

The Pointers were 22-of-60 from the field for the game but did make 9-of-18 from behind the arc. Barnes scored a game-high 22 points including four long-range bombs.

Ethan Prater had 14 points including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Cody Taylor had 11 points and nine rebounds.

“Early in the game we let them take too many set jumpers. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that we were into people. We guarded them better,” said Davis.

A key to the outcome was rebounding. The Panthers dominated the glass 43-27 with Trent Saunders grabbing 14 boards and Copley eight.

“They hurt us on the glass. Their role players stepped up,” said coach Barnes.

Chesapeake hurt the Pointers with their inside game. McMaster had 18 points, Colin Kennedy 16 and Saunders 10. Copley scored 17 points.

“For three years (Saunders has) done everything we’ve asked him to do. Trent is a great defender. He’s had to switch and guard on the perimeter because Colin needs to guard inside,” said Davis.

South Point led by as much as 16-6 in the first quarter before two layups from Saunders cut the margin to 16-12.

There were six lead changes and three ties in the second quarter as the Pointers held gingerly to a 28-27 halftime lead.

Taylor had half of South Point’s 14 total in the third quarter to make it a 42-40 game.

Kennedy opened the fourth quarter with a layup to tie the game. He scored nine of his points in the second half.

“I got the ball more in the post than usual,” said Kennedy. “We played more as a team. We kept our composure. Coach told us to sit down and guard better and we did in the fourth quarter.”

South Point 16 12 14 19 = 61

Chesapeake 12 15 13 28 = 68

SOUTH POINT (10-6, 6-1): Tevin Mitchell 1-5 2-2 5, Blake Barnes 7-23 4-6 22, Jordan Bruton 0-1 0-0 0, Cody Taylor 5-11 1-1 11, Ethan Prater 5-9 1-2 14, Kyle Winkler 2-8 0-0 5, Greg Taylor 2-2 0-2 4, Matt Button 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-60 8-13 61. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 9-18 (Mitchell 1-4, Barnes 4-9, Prater 3-4, Winkler 1-4). Rebounds: 8 offense, 19 defense = 27 (Taylor 9, Prater 4). Team rebounds: 5. Assists: 10 (Barnes 4, Winkler 3). Steals: 2 (Button, Mitchell). Turnovers: 6.

CHESAPEAKE (12-3, 7-0): Peter Hintz 2-3 3-4 7, Nathan Copley 4-13 8-8 17, Austin McMaster 6-11 5-8 18, Trent Saunders 5-10 0-0 10, Colin Kennedy 7-13 2-8 16, Colton Lindsey 0-0 0-0 0, Patrick Hintz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-50 18-28 68. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 2-9 (Pe. Hintz 0-1, Copley 1-5, McMaster 1-2, Kennedy 0-1). Rebounds: 13 offense, 30 defense = 43 (Saunders 14, Copley 8, McMaster 6). Team rebounds: 5. Assists: 12 (Copley 4, Hintz 3, Saunders 3). Steals: 5 (Copley 2, Pe. Hintz 2). Turnovers: 10.