PEDRO — If you think you got a good deal, the Chesapeake Panthers got a “steal.”

Racking up 22 steals, the Panthers blasted the Portsmouth West Senators 80-36 Friday to win the Division III sectional championship.

Chesapeake, the top seed and ranked fifth in the final Associated Press Division III poll, was facing a West team that was just 8-13. Panthers coach Norm Persin stressed to his team all week not to be overconfident.

“We just wanted to come out and start good,” Persin said. “We wanted to put the pressure on and we wanted to get some easy baskets.”

Getting a lot of easy baskets was Brent Ransbottom who scored all 13 of his points in the first half as Chesapeake built a lopsided 45-14 lead.

“Ransbottom has been battling an injury for three or four weeks.

We wanted to get his timing back and get him going. He’s back to where he needs to be,” Persin said.

P.J. Rase was where he needed to be with 21 points, 15 in the first half. The Chesapeake starters did not play in the fourth quarter.

Justin Porter scored 15 points and Tyler Shoemaker had seven steals to go with four assists. Ransbottom had five steals.

The game was close for only a few minutes. Jerrod Pendleton’s basket with 4:33 left in the first quarter had West down 4-2. Chesapeake then went on a 16-4 run to led 20-6 at the end of the quarter.

Rase scored 13 points and Ransbottom seven more as Chesapeake continued its offensive onslaught. Rase hit a leaning 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 41-14.

Porter scored nine points in the third quarter including two foul shots at the 1:21 mark that put the Panthers lead at 42 points. Shoemaker’s 3-pointer just before the buzzer made it 65-25.

Pendleton had 12 points and Nathan Brandenburg 10 for West.

Chesapeake will play West Union at 5:30 p.m. next Sunday at the Ohio University Convocation Center in the district semifinals.

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PORTSMOUTH WEST (8-14): Austin Seevers 0-1 (0-1) 0-0 0, Mat Auger 0-3 (0-0) 0-0 0, Matt Springer 2-4 (-0) 1-4 5, Jerrod Pendleton 3-8 (0-1) 6-11 12, Nathan Brandenburg 36 (2-2) 2-4 10, Boyce Jordan 3-11 (0-0) 0-1 6, Nathan Lauder 0-3 (0-0) 0-0 0, Alfie Bricker

0-2 (0-0) 3-4 3, Drew Piatt 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Justin Van Gundy 0-3 (0-2) 0-0 0, Tyler Evans 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 11-37

(2-6)

12-24

36. Fouls: 21. Fouled out: Auger (3rd 4:00). Rebounds: 14-11=25 (Pendleton 7, Jordan 6). Team/deadball rebounds: 7. Assists: 3 (Auger 2). Steals: 4 (Bricker 2). Turnovers: 26.

CHESAPEAKE (19-2): Caleb McComas 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Justin Porter 6-7 (0-0) 3-3 15, P.J. Rase 8-11 (1-2) 4-4 21, Jeffrey Thornburg 2-7 (0-2) 3-3 7, Brent Ransbottom 5-8 (0-0) 3-5 13, Mike Stapleton 1-4 (0-0) -0 2, Tyler Shoemaker 3-5 (1-1) 0-0 7, Zach Morrison 2-4 (0-0) 0-1 4,

Kyle Fuller 0-2 (0-01) 2-2 2, Jonathan Greene 2-4 (0-0) 0-0 4, Aaron Ross 0-2 (0-0) 0-2 0, Kyle Rase 0-3 (0-1) 2-2 2, Aaron Donahoe 1-2 (0-0) 1-2 3. Totals: 30-60

(2-7)

18-24

80. Fouls: 21. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 11-18=29 (Ransbottom 8, Thornburg 5). Team/deadball rebounds: 7. Assists: 13 (Shoemaker 4). Steals: 22 (Shoemaker 7, Ransbottom 5). Turnovers: 11. Blocked shots: Thornburg 1.