PEDRO – The drought has ended.

Monday, February 04, 2002

PEDRO – The drought has ended.

For the first time since 1994, the Rock Hill Redmen beat the Chesapeake Panthers as they rallied in the second half to post a 46-42 win.

"It’s a big win for us. It’s good for the young kids," Rock Hill coach Marty Mills said.

Rock Hill improved to 10-6 overall and 3-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The loss left Chesapeake (11-4) tied for first place with South Point at 4-1 and ended the Panthers 10-game winning streak.

‘Defensively we were good enough, we just didn’t make our layups. There was one possession we missed eight shots. And they’re all rebound layups. We just didn’t play well offensively," Persin said. "If you don’t put the ball in the basket, you’re not going to win too many."

Chesapeake jumped ahead 9-2 to start the game before Rock Hill came back to tie the score at the end of the quarter. The Panthers led by as many as 11 the second quarter and it was 26-18 at the half.

The offense went sour the second half for the Panthers who scored but 16 points. The lead was down to 35-32 at the end of the third quarter.

Chesapeake upped its lead to six but David Schug hit a pair of 3-pointers to tie the game. Isaac Kitchen hit a 3-pointer to put the Redmen ahead 41-38 and later made two foul shots to help secure the win.

"They went to a zone and we hit a couple of big 3s. Isaac stepped up and hit a couple of big free throws. He did a nice job and George Mullins played well defensively," said Mills.

"The big key was Chesapeake had 14 offensive rebounds the first half and we limited that the second half. We didn’t do a very good job the first half, but we made a few adjustments the second half and did a better job with our pressure."

Rock Hill made seven 3-pointers and converted 9-of-17 from the foul line. Chesapeake had just three 3-pointers and sank 3-of-4 from the line, all in the first half.

Schug led Rock Hill with 16 points. Aaron Gossett and Nick Karle had 11 points each for the Panthers.

Rock Hill’s Robbie McClellan was knocked out in the third quarter. He suffered a broken jaw and is out indefinitely.

On Tuesday, Rock Hill hosts Oak Hill and Chesapeake entertains Coal Grove. The Panthers played Reedsville Eastern Saturday.

In the reserve game, Rock Hill won 34-32as Derrick Martin scored 16 and Zack Mullins 10.

Chesapeake 9 17 9 7 – 42

Rock Hill 9 9 14 14 – 46

CHESAPEAKE (11-4, 4-1): Adam Skeens 2 0 2-3 6, Aaron Gossett 4 1 0-0 11, Nick Karle 4 1 0-0 11, Brad Fulton 3 0 0-0 6, Tommie Hill 0 1 0-0 3, Matt Rucker 2 0 1-1 5. Totals: 15 3 3-4 42. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Gossett.

ROCK HILL (10-6, 3-3): Isaac Kitchen 1 2 1-2 9, Ryan Townsend 2 0 0-1 4, George Mullins 1 0 1-2 3, Robbie McClellan 0 2 0-0 6, Rickie McDonie 1 0 0-2 2, Roger Joseph 3 0 0-0 6, David Schug 0 3 7-10 16. Totals: 8 7 9-17 46. Fouls: 7. Fouled out: None.