Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

PROCTORVILLE — Round One goes to the Dragons.
In a battle for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference on Tuesday, the Fairland Dragons used a strong finish to beat the Chesapeake Panthers 59-43.
The game was tied at 42 with six minutes to play when the Dragons outscored the Panthers 17-1 the rest of the game.
The late surge keyed by Clayton Thomas and Aiden Porter enabled the Dragons to take sole possession of the OVC lead with a 5-0 record. Fairland is now 10-1 on the season.
Chesapeake suffered its first loss and fell to 8-1 overall and 4-1 in the league.
Thomas proved to be the key for the Dragons as he hit 7-of-12 shots from behind the arc and went 4-4 at the foul line for a game-high 25 points. He also had 6 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal.
Jacob Polcyn had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists, Porter 10 points and 4 assists and Jordan Williams hauled down 10 rebounds as Fairland dominated the boards 41-22.
Chesapeake was led by Levi Blankenship with 13 points and 6 rebounds.
Thomas got Fairland off to a good starter as he hit four 3-poiners and it was 16-11 at the end of the first quarter.
Polcyn scored 4 points and Thomas hit another trey in the second quarter as the lead went to 26-20 at the half.
Chesapeake had four different players account for its 9 points.
The Panthers’ offense picked up in the third quarter as Blankenship scored 6 points and Nathan Cox and Dilen Caldwell hit 3-pointers to tie the game at 37.
Williams had 5 points in the quarter for the Dragons.
With the game was tied 42-42, Thomas hit a pair of 3-poitners and sant two foul shots while Porter went off with a 3-pointer and scored 10 points — he was 3-of-4 at the foul line — and the defense limited Chesapeake to just a free throw by Josh Cox the rest of the game.
Fairland host Rock Hill and Gallipolis visits Chesapeake on Friday.
Chesapeake 11 9 17 6 = 43
Fairland 16 10 11 22 = 59
CHESAPEAKE (8-1, 4-1): Travis Grim 1-3 0-0 1-2 3, Nathan Cox 3-8 1-4 0-2 9, Levi Blankenship 5-9 1-5 0-0 13, Dilen Caldwell 0-1 1-2 3, Austin Jackson 3-8 0-1 0-1 6, Trent Dearth 2-8 0-3 2-4 6, Josh Cox 1-6 0-0 1-2 3, Ethan Taylor 0-1 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 18-62 4-11 43. 3-pt goals: 3-18. Rebounds: 22 (Blankenship 6, J. Cox 4, Jackson 4). Assists: 1. Steals: 1. Turnovers: 6. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.
FAIRLAND (10-1, 5-0): Jacob Polcyn 5-12 0-0 2-3, Aiden Porter 2-8 1-6 3-4 10, Gavin Hunt 1-3 0-0 0-2 2, Clayton Thomas 0-1 7-12 4-4 25, Jordan Williams 3-6 0-0 1-2 7, Tevin Taylor 1-2 0-0 0-0 2, Mason Manns 0-0 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-51 11-17 59. 3-pt goals: 8-18. Rebounds: 41 (Williams 10, Polcyn 10, Thomas 6). Assists: 13 (Porter 4, Polcyn 3, Hunt 3, Thomas 3). Steals: 4 (Hunt 2). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: Hunt.