Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

COAL GROVE — One Direction sings “I’m in love with you and all these little things.”

Chesapeake coach Ryan Davis liked some of the things his Panthers did, but he was far from in love with them Still, he liked the end result as the Panthers beat the Coal Grove Hornets 62-53 Tuesday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

“There were some things I thought we wanted to do that we didn’t get done tonight that we’re learning to do. There were times we did stuff really well, but there’s stuff we have to get better at,” said Davis.

Some things that Davis liked were the balanced scoring and strong rebounding. Andrew Saunders had 18 points, Brad Meadows got 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Caleb Heffner finished with 11 points and 7 rebounds.

As a team, the Panthers shot 24-of-44 for 54.5 percent and had 17 assists. Nate Smith had 5 assists and Gage Rhoades and Saunders 4 each.

“We had kids who stepped up and did some things that were nice. Our second half rebounding was key. We didn’t give up too many boards, and if we did they were ones that were toss-ups,” said Davis.

“We probably turned the ball over too many times, but when you’re playing youth and guys who haven’t been in that situation it’s good to come out with a win.”

There were a lot of things for Hornets’ coach Jay Lucas to like except for the team’s shooting in the fourth quarter when they were just 4-of-13 after making 16-of-31 shots over the first three quarters.

Chesapeake (3-1, 1-0) was 13-of-18 from the field in the second half while the Hornets were 9-of-23. “They executed well and did what they wanted to do. We just didn’t make shots. We had a lull in the third quarter and they took the lead and that was the difference,” said Hornets’ coach Jay Lucas.

Conor Markins had 14 points and 6 rebounds to lead Coal Grove (1-1). D.J. Miller had 12 points on four 3-pointers and Brandon Adkins added 9 points and 8 rebounds.

Coal Grove jumped out to 10-5 lead as Markins and Miller had 3-pointers.

The Panthers went on a 6-0 run to end the quarter and took an 18-15 lead.

The game was tied four times in the second quarter including 26-26 on a layup by Aaron Thompson.

But Miller drained another triple with 22 seconds on the clock and the Hornets were up 29-26 at the break.

Miller hit another trey to begin the second half to give Coal Grove its biggest lead of the game at 32-26.

But a triple by Saunders tied the game at 35 with 4:42 on the clock. Rhoades hit a trifecta for a 40-37 lead. Markins’ layup pull the Hornets within 42-41 but Thompson’s layup just before the end of the quarter put the lead at 44-41.

A 6-2 run by the Panthers to begin the fourth quarter opened up a 50-43 lead with three minutes left. Two fouls shot by Smith made it 56-46 and a pair of free throws by Saunders with 22 seconds to play gave the the Panthers their biggest lead at 60-49.

“Early in the season it’s a really good win against a very athletic, vastly improved Coal Grove team. There’s a lot of ability (on that team),” said Davis.

“We’ve got to get better. We’ve got to get the ball inside and we did a better job of doing that but I still think we can do a better job of that.”

You’ve got to like the way he thinks.

Chesapeake 18 8 18 18 = 62

Coal Grove 15 14 12 12 = 53

CHESAPEAKE (3-1, 1-0): Nate Smith 2 0 2-2 6, Gage Rhoades 0 2 1-2 7, Brad Meadows 3 2 0-0 12, Caleb Heffner 5 0 1-6 11, Andrew Saunders 4 2 4-4 18, Austin Carpenter 1 0 0-0 2, Aaron Thompson 3 0 0-1 6. Totals: 24-44 8-15 62. 3-point goals: 6-14. Rebounds: 9-O, 17-D = 26 (Meadows 11, Heffner 7). Team rebounds: 2. Assists: 17 (Smith 5, Rhoades 4, Saunders 4). Steals: 7 (Heffner 2, Meadows 2, Saunders 2). Turnovers: 13. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: Meadows (4th 0:51).

COAL GROVE (1-1, 0-1): Sean Paulus 2 0 0-0 4, Brandon Adkins 4 0 1-4 9, D.J. Miller 0 4 0-0 12, Conor Markins 4 1 3-4 14, Austen Pleasants 3 0 3-4 9, Jonathan Joseph 1 0 0-0 2, Isaiah Gunther 0 0 0-0 0, Joe Akers 1 0 1-2 3. Totals: 20-44 8-14 53. 3-point goals: 5-20. Rebounds: 9-O, 17-D = 26 (Adkins 8, Markins 6). Team rebounds: 2. Assists: 6 (Markins 2, Paulus 2, Miller 2). Steals: 4. Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None.