Psst. There's something going on inbetween holidays.

With Christmas a memory and New Year's Day in the near future, sitting in the middle of that schedule is a classic high school basketball matchup.

The Chesapeake Panthers, a traditional power, will play at Ironton on Friday where they face a Fighting Tigers team that is unbeaten in seven games.

Chesapeake is 3-1 after beating a previously unbeaten Symmes Valley handily last Saturday, 75-39. The Panthers only loss came in the season opener by one point to Marion Pleasant, 39-38.

In that game, the Panthers cold-shooting manifested in the final two minutes as they failed to score and saw a three-point lead disintegrate.

"We're getting better each game. The thing we have to do is play some games. But we should be all right by the time we get to league play," Persin said.

Chesapeake has won seven straight Ohio Valley Conference championships and are favored to win yet another under coach Norm Persin.

Ironton is an independent, but the game could be a factor at the end of the season when determining seeding for the sectional tournament.

The game also features a couple of basketball coaches with 400 career wins, Chesapeake's Norm Persin and Ironton's Roger Zornes.

Persin has compiled his wins with stops at Oak Hill, Wilmington, and Chesapeake. Zornes coached his entire career at Boyd County, Ky., before moving to Ironton this season.

"This is will be a good game for us," Zornes said. "Chesapeake has been the team to beat in this area for a long time. I'm anxious to see how we react in this type of situation."

Chesapeake, which has four starters returning and one of its top reserve players, beat Ironton twice last season including the sectional tournament. The Fighting Tigers only returning starters are Josh Sands and Derique Bacon.

Ironton, 11-11 last season, will have trouble matching up with the bigger Panthers who boast 6-foot-6 Matt Rucker, 6-5 Adam Skeens, and all-district standout Aaron Gossett, a 6-4 swingman.

Nick Collins is Ironton's tallest starter at 6-3. Joe Zornes is 6-2 and Sands 6-foot.