Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — This wasn’t what the Chesapeake Lady Panthers wanted to see, but they saw their way through it.
Facing two players at 6-foot tall and three others at 5-10, the Lady Panthers were facing some mismatches.
But Chesapeake turned to its defense to beat the Lady Knights 33-28 in the Huntington Classic on Wednesday.
“I thought we played pretty well defensively. We battled and forced them to take some bad shots. We didn’t match up well. They had three girls bigger than anyone we had but our girls just battled,” said Chesapeake coach Chris Ball.
Natalee Hall had 13 points and Dominique Murphy added 11 points and five steals to lead the Lady Panthers (13-5).
Jozy Jones grabbed nine rebounds and Haley Stapleton had six for Chesapeake.
Murphy hit a 3-pointer in each of the first two quarters to help offset four points by the Knights’ Kirya Kingery in the first quarter and give Chesapeake a 15-9 halftime lead.
Hall scored eight of her points and Murphy hit a triple in the third quarter as the Lady Panthers extended the lead to 26-19. Rachel Kraschnewski got four points for Midland.
Faith Craddock had four points for Midland (7-11) in the fourth quarter but Hall hit 3-of-4 from the foul line to preserve the win.
Chesapeake hosts Ironton on Thursday.
Chesapeake    5    10    11    7    =    33
Midland    5    4    10    9    =    28
CHESAPEAKE (13-5): Karli Davis 0 0 0-0 0, Haley Stapleton 0 0 0-0 0, Brooke Webb 1 0 0-4 2, Jozy Jones 3 0 1-2 7, Natalee Hall 2 1 6-7 13, Dominique Murphy 1 3 0-1 11. Totals: 7 4 7-14 33. Turnovers: 19. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.
CABELL-MIDLAND (7-11): Morgan Bennett 2 0 0-0 4, Faith Craddock 2 0 2-5 6, Kirya Kingery 2 0 0-0 4, Rachel Kraschnewski 2 0 3-4 7, Haley Waugh 3 0 1-6 7, Emily Connor 0 0 0-0 0, Madison Hightower 0 0 0-0 0, Khari Hamlet 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 0 6-15 28. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None.