CHESAPEAKE – Things always get their darkest before the get light.

Friday, January 18, 2002

CHESAPEAKE – Things always get their darkest before the get light. The light came through just in time for the Chesapeake Lady Panthers Thursday.

Down four points late and forced to play the final 3:30 without leading scorer Erin Sutphin who fouled out, Chesapeake came out of the darkness to rally past the Fairland Lady Dragons 58-57 in a key Ohio Valley Conference game.

"Fairland was in complete control and had the momentum going, but our kids dug down deep and found something. It was unbelievable," Chesapeake coach Chad Belville said. "Our kids played with so much heart tonight. I’m really proud of their effort. I just can’t say enough about our girls’ effort."

Sutphin led Chesapeake with 17 points. Emily Delimpo had 16 points, 15 rebounds,and two blocked shots, and Jennifer Rice had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Lisa Perry had nine points, six assists, and eight steals, but her biggest contribution was the game-winning shot with time running out.

Jeana Diamond scored 18 points to lead Fairland, 7-5 and 2-2. Jennifer Jones contributed 15 points while Brooke Fisher and Megan Fisher scored nine points each.

Diamond scored eight points the first quarter to put Fairland ahead 12-8.

"Fairland did a great job getting the ball out and running. They just beat us up and down the floor," Belville said.

Perry’s 3-pointer put Chesapeake up 13-12 and Sutphin then scored eight points as Chesapeake rallied to take a 26-22 lead at the half.

"The second quarter we just dominated on the boards," Belville said.

Chesapeake went up 35-24 at one point as Delimpo scored six points, but then the Lady Panthers went nearly for minutes without scoring and fell behind.

Jones scored nine of her points the fourth quarter as Fairland came back to take a 51-48 lead with 1:30 left, but Rice converted a three-point play to tie the game with 1:12 to play.

Fairland then scored four straight points to lead 55-51.

Trailing 56-53, Sarah Harris made a three-point play and tied the game.

Jones hit a foul shot with 13 seconds left to give Fairland the lead, but Perry hit a jumper from in the lane with two seconds left to give Chesapeake the lead. Fairland called a timeout, but the inbounds pass was deflected as the final horn sounded.

"I told Lisa to go to the hole and make something happen," Belville said. "But all our girls contributed in a big way. Jennifer Rice was huge down the stretch. Sarah Harris came in and had a big 3-point play after Erin fouled out," Belville said.

Chesapeake hosts Rock Hill next Thursday. Fairland hosts Oak Hill Saturday.

Fairland 12 10 13 22 – 57

Chesapeake 8 18 11 21 – 58

FAIRLAND (7-5, 2-2): Brooke Godby 2 0 0-0 4, Megan Fisher 4 0 1-5 9, Jennifer Jones 5 0 5-11 15, Laurel Wilkes 0 0 2-4 2, Brooke Fisher 3 0 3-4 9, Jeana Diamond 8 0 2-3 18, Allison McConnell 0 0 0-0 0, Kristen Brumfield 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 0 13-27 57. Fouls: 24. Fouled out: None.

CHESAPEAKE (11-4, 3-1): Lisa Perry 1 1 4-6 9, Erin Sutphin 7 0 3-5 17, Sarah Harris 1 0 2-3 4, Emily Delimpo 6 0 4-8 16, Jennifer Rice 4 0 4-5 12, Megan Johnson 0 0 0-0 0, Joy Mayenchein 0 0 0-0 0, Brittany Boyle 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 1 17-27 58. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: Sutphin. Rebounds: 38 (Delimpo 15, Rice 11). Assists: 11 (Perry 6). Steals: 11 (Perry 8). Turnovers: 10. Blocked shots: Delimpo 2.