By JIM WALKER

Tribune Sports Editor

CHESAPEAKE — It wasn’t their best, but it turned out to be good enough.

Chesapeake had its worst performance of the season but used a strong fourth quarter to beat the Athens Bulldogs 50-33 Saturday in the second annual Beasts of the Southeast basketball classic.

“We didn’t play very well,” said Panthers’ coach Ryan Davis. “We seemed to be a little sluggish from playing the night before and we seemed to be a little tired. But that’s no excuse. Athens played Friday night, too.”

Despite the sluggish effort, the Panthers remained unbeaten in nine games. Athens fell to 5-7.

Athens took a 13-10 lead before the Panthers stormed back to take a 31-20 halftime lead.

But the offense evaporated in the third quarter as the Panthers scored just two points and saw their lead shrink to 33-29.

A key steal by Javon Thompson who turned it into a layup and ignited a 13-1 run as Chesapeake finally found its spark and pulled away to the 17-point win.

Austin McMaster led the Panthers with 17 points. Nathan Copley finished with 11.

Dean Maffin led Athens with 10 points.

Chesapeake now faces a usy week. The Panthers play Logan at 8 p.m. Monday in the Huntington Prep Classic at Memorial Field House. The game will air on MyZ-TV Channel 17 Time Warner.

The Panthers face Spring Valley at 7 p.m. Thursday in the semifinals of the Huntington St. Joe Invitational Gold Bracket.

The consolation and championship games for the SJI are Saturday.

Athens 13 7 9 4 = 33

Chesapeake 10 21 2 17 = 50

ATHENS (5-7): Trey Harris 1 1 0-0 5, Nick Skinner 1 0 1-2 3, Josh Maxson 1 0 1-2 3, Ian Frampton 1 0 1-1 3, Dean Maffin 2 2 0-0 10, Nick Stanley 1 0 0-0 2, Orham Mentes 3 0 0-0 6. Totals: 9 4 3-5 33. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: None.

CHESAPEAKE (9-0): Nathan Copley 4 1 0-0 11, Patrick Hintz 0 0 0-2 0, Eric Kennedy 0 0 0-0 0, Brandon Noble 3 0 1-1 7, Nick Duffield 0 0 0-0 0, Javon Thompson 2 1 0-2 7, Austin McMaster 7 0 3-3 17, Seth Skeens 0 0 0-0 0, Colin Kennedy 2 0 4-4 8. Totals: 18 2 8-12 50. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: None.