PEDRO -- If the basket had been an ocean, the ball would have landed on the beach.

Chesapeake shot just 17 percent from the field as the Lady Panthers lost 45-27 to the Wheelersburg Lady Pirates Monday in the first round of the Division III sectional tournament.

The Lady Panthers missed their first 12 shots and began the game 1 of 17. The shooting trouble extended into the second half as they failed to make their first 14 shots.

"It was the same things that have plagued us all season. We executed our offense, we took good shots, but we didn't make them. And we had a lot of layups in those shots," Chesapeake coach Chad Belville said.

Wheelersburg -- shooting just 32 percent -- was led by Haley Messer with 15 points and Maggie Howe with 12. Kendra Massie had 10 rebounds and Emily Mershon grabbed seven rebounds.

Joanna Delimpo had 7 points and eight rebounds for Chesapeake which finished 6-15. Brittany Boyle had 6 points and seven rebounds, Lisa Perry 6 points and three assists, and Noelle Wood hauled down six rebounds.

The Lady Panthers made two foul shots as they fell behind 8-2 in the first quarter.

A 3-pointer by Perry with 5:01 left in the half got Chesapeake within three points at 11-8. Wheelersburg then went on an 8-0 run and led 17-12 at the break.

Candace Dickerson made a free throw to start the second half as Chesapeake trailed 17-13, but the Lady Panthers fell behind 30-13 and did not score again until Boyle sank two free throws with 11 seconds left in the quarter.

Down 32-15 heading into the fourth quarter, Delimpo followed up a missed shot, Boyle made two foul shots, and Wood hit a layup as Chesapeake creeped to within 32-22 with 5:17 to play.

A 3-pointer by Perry had the Panthers down 36-25, but then Wheelersburg went on a 9-0 run to seal the victory.

"But our girls never laid down. It would have been easy for them to throw in the towel. They just hung in there and battled. I'm proud of their effort," Belville said.

Wheelersburg plays top-seeded Oak Hill at 1 p.m. Saturday in the sectional finals.

Wheelersburg891513--45

Chesapeake210312--27

WHEELERSBURG:

Emily Mershon 4 0 0-0 8, Kendra Massie 2 0 2-2 4, Sara Henry 2 0 0-0 4, Haley Messer 6 0 3-9 15, Maggie Howe 2 0 8-10 12, Cathy Cheek 1 0 0-0 2, Kelli Potts 0 0 0-0 0, Erin Faulkner 0 0 0-0 0, Ashley Nelson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-50

(0-10)

13-21

45. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 13-24=37 (Massie 10, Mershon 7). Team/deadball rebounds: 3. Assists: 5 (Messer 3, Massie 2). Steals: 14 (Massie 5, Messer 3). Turnovers: 16.

CHESAPEAKE (6-15):

Candace Dickerson 0 1 1-2 4, Lisa Perry 0 2 0-1 6, Brittany Boyle 0 0 6-7 6, Noelle Wood 1 0 1-1 3, Joy Mayenchein 0 0 0-2 0, Joanna Delimpo 3 0 1-1 7, Alysson Baise 0 0 1-2 1, Veronica Perko 0 0 0-0 0, Cheryl Scott 0 0 0-0 0, Stephanie Riley 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 7-42

(3-12)

10-16

27. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 11-20=31 (Delimpo 8, Boyle 7, Wood 6). Team/deadball rebounds: 4. Assists: 3 (Perry 3). Steals: 11 (Dickerson 4, Boyle 2, Delimpo 2). Turnovers: 20.