Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

The Chesapeake Panthers raced to a big lead early, sputtered later but then managed to re-fuel enough to cross the finish line.

The Panthers built a big lead and then held on for a 68-63 Ohio Valley Conference win over the Ironton Fighting Tigers on Tuesday.

Dannie Maynard and Levi Blankenship combined for 38 points to lead the Panthers (3-1, 2-1). Maynard had 20 points — 19 in the first half — and Blankenship scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half.

J.D. Daniels added 12 points, Braxton Oldaker had 10 and Ben Bragg 8 to account for all of Chesapeake’s scoring.

Braden Schreck scored 13 points to go with 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals to pace Ironton (2-1, 2-1).

Ironton had a balanced attack with Aaron Masters scoring 9, Lincoln Barnes 8, Ethan White and Landen Wilson 7 each and Ty Perkins and Matt Sheridan 6 apiece.

The Panthers raced to a 19-4 lead before a spinning layup by Schreck stopped the bleeding temporarily. Oldaker’s basket gave the Panthers a 25-10 lead to end the quarter.

“The first two minutes I could tell we were in trouble when a couple of our best defenders looked slow and we were getting beat off the dribble. We got down 13 and just couldn’t make up those first four minutes,” said Ironton coach Chris Barnes.

“We came out flat and made a great comeback. They started as hot as we started cold.”

Maynard’s driving layup and a basket by Oldaker pushed the lead to 29-12. A layup by White and two foul shots by Wilson got Ironton within 34-20 with 1:55 left in the half.

Bragg hit a layup and Maynard sank two foul shots but Masters hit a trifecta and Jaxon Vance scored inside and it was 38-25 at the half.

A trey by Wilson and a putback by Masters got Ironton within 38-32, but Daniels nailed a 3-pointer and Blankenship scored 6 straight points and the lead was 47-32.

Trailing 51-36, Ironton went on a 10-5 run to end the quarter and trailed 56-46.

Lincoln Barnes had 6 points, Matt Sheridan sank two foul shots, Schreck had a pair of layups and barnes got another layup and Wilson had a putback to put Ironton breathing on the Panthers’ neck at 64-62 with just under a minute to play.

But Oldaker hit a layup to end the run only to have Schreck hit a foul shot and then get the rebound after the missed second attempt.

With a chance to tie, Ironton missed an open 3-point attempt and Blankenship was fouled and made both attempts to seal the win.

Coach Barnes said his team was riddled with the flu and it took its toll on most of the players including starters Perkins and Masters who both played but spent time at Urgent Care on Monday.

“We cut practice short (Monday) we had so many guys sick. We had four players out tonight,” said Barnes. “Our young guys gave us some energy. White and our two freshmen (Schreck and Shaun Terry) gave us a great effort. White was great on the boards.”

On Friday, Ironton visits South Point and Chesapeake goes to Coal Grove.

Chesapeake     23        15        18        12        =          68

Ironton            10        15        21        17        =          63

CHESAPEAKE (3-1, 2-1): Caleb Cox 0 0 0-0 0, Levi Blankenship 6 1 3-4 18, Dannie Maynard 3 3 5-6 20, Camron Shockley 0 0 0-0 0, J.D. Daniels 3 2 0-0 12, Austin Henderson 0 0 0-0 0, Braxton Oldaker 5 0 0-0 10, Ben Bragg 4 0 0-2 8. Totals: 27-50 8-13 68. 3-pt. goals: 6-20. Rebounds: 4-O, 1D = 17. Assists 9. Steals: 10. Blocks: 1. Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.

IRONTON (2-1, 2-1): Braden Schreck 6 0 1-2 13, Aaron Masters 3 1 0-0 9, Lincoln Barnes 4 0 0-0 8, Ethan White 3 0 1-2 7, Landon Wilson 1 1 2-4 7, Matthew Sheridan 2 0 2-2 6, Ty Perkins 3- 0 0-0 6, Shaun Terry 0 1 2-2 5, Jaxon Vance 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 26-51 8-12 63. 3-pt goals: 3-16. Rebounds: 8-O, 19-D = 27 (White 8, Schreck 5, Wilson 5). Assists: 11 (Schreck 3, Masters 2, Barnes 2). Steals: 8 (Schreck 2, Barnes 2). Turnovers: 16. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.