Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

CHESAPEAKE — The Chesapeake Panthers finally pushed the right button.

Trudging along in the first half, the Panthers kicked into high gear in the second half and beat the River Valley Raiders 51-36 Tuesday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

The Panthers led by just four points at halftime, then blitzed the Raiders 17-4 in the third quarter en route to the easy win.

Andrew Saunders scored 16 points and grabbed 7 rebounds to lead the Panthers, 7-4 and 3-1 in the league. Caleb Heffner had 12 points — all in the first half — and pulled down 8 rebounds.

Javon Thompson handed out 8 assists.

“Heffner kept us in the game and we kind of woke up in the second half. We played with more emotion and played a little harder,” said Panthers’ coach Ryan Davis.

Saunders scored 8 points in the third quarter to ignite the Panthers’ offense. River Valley managed to outscore the Panthers 15-13 in the fourth quarter as Joseph Loyd scored all 8 of his points.

“Javon (Thompson) didn’t have big numbers, but his energy got us going. He got after it on defense,” said Davis.

Seann Roberts scored 15 points for the Raiders (2-7, 0-4).

River Valley 12 5 4 15 = 36

Chesapeake 13 8 17 13 = 51

RIVER VALLEY (2-7, 0-4): Jacob Gilmore 0 1 0-0 3, Joseph Loyd 1 2 0-0 8, Burnie Stanley 0 0 0-0 0, Tyler Twyman 1 2 0-0 8, Evan Dovenbarger 1 0 0-0 2, Seann Roberts 7 0 1-2 15, Kyle Bays 0 0 0-0 0, Justin Rusk 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 10 5 1-2 36. Fouls: 2. Fouled out: None.

CHESAPEAKE (7-4, 3-1): Shane Stephens 1 0 0-0 2, Nick Duffield 3 1 0-0 9, Austin Carpenter 0 0 0-0 0, Nate Smith 0 0 0-0 0, Caleb Lindsey 3 0 0-1 6, Caleb Heffner 6 0 0-0 12, Javon Thompson 0 1 0-0 3, Andrew Saunders 5 2 0-0 16, Chad Meadows 0 0 0-0 0, Aaron Thompson 1 0 1-1 3. Totals: 19 2 1-2 51. Fouls: 7. Fouled out: None.