Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

CHESAPEAKE — And now we have a log jam.

The Chesapeake Panthers needed a win and they got it as they beat the Fairland Dragons 67-60 Saturday and throw the Ohio Valley Conference into a three-way tie for first place.

Chesapeake, Fairland and Coal Grove are all 2-1. South Point is one-half game back at 1-1.

“That was a good win for us. We couldn’t afford to fall two games back,” said Panthers’ coach Ryan Davis.

“I thought our kids played pretty well at times. We handled their pressure pretty well and that was a key.”

The Panthers (8-3) had just seven turnovers.

Fairland (5-4) took an 18-2 lead after the first quarter.

The Panthers scored 10 unanswered points to erase a 20-14 deficit in the second quarter to take the lead for good at 24-20.

Chance Short’s basket with 34 seconds left had the Dragons down 24-22 at the break

Andrew Saunders scored 8 points in the third quarter and the Panthers used a 9-1 run to open up a 46-35 lead.

Chesapeake took its biggest lead at 61-35 on a jumper by Nate Smith with 6:51 to play.

The Dragons kept battling but could get not closer than the final score when Evan Maddox hit a 3-pointer with two seconds to play.

Maddox scored 8 points including a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarters.

Saunders had 19 points to lead the Panthers. Gage Rhoades scored 17 points and Caleb Heffner had 15 points and 11 rebounds. Brad Meadows grabbed 12 rebounds.

Maddox scored 24 points to pace Fairland. Luke Phillips and Short scored 17 points each.

Fairland 18 4 13 25 = 60

Chesapeake 12 12 22 21 = 67

FAIRLAND (5-4, 2-1): Thayer Flynn 0 0 0-0 0, Chance Short 4 2 3-3 17, Luke Phillips 4 0 9-11 17, Nathan Campbell 0 0 0-1 0, Evan Maddox 3 5 3-3 24, Tyler Campbell 1 0 0-0 2, Trent Wilcoxon 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-53 15-18 60. 3-point goals: 7-14. Rebounds: 29 (N. Campbell 10). Team/deadball rebounds: 8. Steals: 5 (Phillips 2). Turnovers: 8. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: T. Campbell.

CHESAPEAKE (8-3, 2-1): Blake Lester 0 0 1-4 1, Austin Carpenter 0 0 0-0 0, Kolton Webb 0 0 0-0 0, Nate Smith 3 0 2-2 8, Gage Rhoades 4 2 3-5 17, Brad Meadows 3 0 1-3 7, Andrew Saunders 6 0 7-10 19, Caleb Heffner 5 0 5-6 15, Aaron Thompson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-48 19-30 67. 3-point goals: 2-5. Rebounds: 30 (Meadows 12, Heffner 11). Team/deadball rebounds: 7. Steals: 2. Turnovers: 7. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: Smith.