Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

CHESAPEAKE — What you see is what you get.

The Chesapeake Panthers do what they do and that’s hustle and shoot the ball well. They did it again on Friday and for the second time this season to Ironton as they beat the Fighting Tigers 71-60.

In the replay of the first meeting, the Panthers jumped out to a 10-point first quarter lead and made it stand up.

Ben Bragg and Levi Blankenship scored 24 points each including 27 of the Panthers 35 second half points.

Ironton coach Chris Barnes said there was a simple explanation to the Panthers’ win.

“First of all, they played harder than we played. You can’t wait until you get down 10 or 12 points and decide to play hard, especially on the road,” said Barnes.

“The last three quarters we’re down one point in terms of points scored and we were fouling on purpose. Credit to Chesapeake. They shot the lights out of it.”

After Matt Sheridan hit a 3-pointer to start the game and give Ironton its only lead, the Panthers got two 3-pointers from J.D. Daniels to take an 8-3.

had a layup and Blankenship a trey as the lead went to 15-8. Sheridan stopped the run with aw layup but Bragg had a basket and a 3-pointer and it was 20-10 at the end of the quarter.

Braden Schreck hit a trifecta to start the second quarter for Ironton, but 3-pointers by Daniels and Bragg gave the Panthers their biggest lead of the game at 28-13.

Sheridan hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left in the half to get Ironton within 36-26 at the break.

A layup by Ethan White and two technical free throws by Sheridan had Ironton with 38-34 in the third quarter. Bragg had two foul shots and Sheridan hit a 17-footer and it was 40-36, but Blankenship hit a triple, Braxton Oldaker had a layup and Blankenship converted a 3-point play to make it 48-36 and the Panthers were never headed.

The Panthers converted 7-of-12 free throws in the fourth quarter as Ironton began to foul in an attempt to get back in the game.

“In the second half we went straight man and didn’t help off. We cut it to four with the ball and we ran a play and turned it over and they went down and scored and that was the ballgame,” said Barnes.

Sheridan led Ironton with 21 points and 3 assists. Schreck had 19 points and 2 steals, White had 8 rebounds and 3 assists while Perkins had 7 boards and 2 blocks.

On Tuesday, Ironton will host South Point and Chesapeake entertains Coal Grove.

Ironton     10 16 18 16 = 60

Chesapeake 20 16 18 17 = 71

IRONTON (5-6, 3-3): Landen Wilson 1 0 0-0 2, Matt Sheridan 6 2 3-5 21, Aaron Masters 0 0 0-0 0, Braden Schreck 6 1 4-6 19, Ethan White 3 0 0-0 6, Ty Perkins 1 0 4-4 6, Lincoln Barnes 1 0 0-0 2, Jaxon Vance 2 0 0-0 4. Totals: 23-50 11-15 60. 3-pt. goals: 3-15. Rebounds: 9-O, 19-D = 28 (White 8, Perkins 7, Wilson 5). Assists: 8 (Sheridan 3, White 3). Steals: 6 (Schreck 2, Barnes 2). Blocks: 5 (Perkins 2). Turnovers: 12.  Fouls: 20. Fouled out: Masters (4th 1:1:10).

CHESAPEAKE (8-4, 6-3): Caleb Cox 0 0 0-0 0, Levi Blankenship 4 3 7-9 24, Dannie Maynard 1 0 3-8 5, Camron Shockley 0 0 0-0 0, J.D. Daniels 0 3 0-0 9, Austin Henderson 0 2 0-0 6, Braxton Oldaker 1 0 0-0 2, Ben Bragg 9 1 3-3 24. Totals: 15 9 14-22 71. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.