The Chesapeake Panthers were off and running.

Taking a page out of Portsmouth’s playbook, the Panthers had the running game as they beat the Trojans 72-62 on Tuesday,.

“Defensively we played decent, but we made some mistakes. We were able to get a lot of points in transition,” said Panthers’ coach Ryan Davis.

Kyle Webb had a game-high 24 points and seven rebounds to lead the Panthers (14-4) while Trent Saunders had a career-high 21 points to go with 13 rebounds, nine on the offensive end.

Nathan Copley added nine points and seven rebounds for the Panthers who committed just six turnovers, one in the second half.

Chesapeake took a 20-15 lead after the first quarter and took a 39-33 advantage into the locker room.

The Panthers stretch the lead to 55-46 after three quarter and built as much as a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Tory Horne had 20 points, Anthony Williams 17 and Andrew Bendolph 12 for the Trojans (9-9).

Chesapeake hosts Fairland on Friday in a showdown for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference. They play at River Valley on Saturday in a league game.

The Panthers can win the title outright with a win over Fairland. A loss to the Dragons and a win over River Valley would give them a share of the title.

Portsmouth 15 18 13 16 = 62

Chesapeake 20 19 16 17 = 72

PORTSMOUTH (9-9): Forrest Johnson 2 1 2-2 9, Zach Link 1 0 0-0 2, Tory Horne 7 1 3-4 20, Anthony Williams 7 1 0-3 17, Andrew Bendolph 2 2 2-4 12, Tre Underwood 1 0 0-0 2, Nick Nelson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 5 7-13 62. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 28. Turnovers: 14.

CHESAPEAKE (14-4): Peter Hintz 2 0 3-5 7, Nathan Copley 2 1 2-2 9, Matt Angle 1 0 4-10 6, Colton Lindsey 1 0 0-0 2, Kyle Webb 9 2 0-0 24, Trent Saunders 9 0 3-3 21, Travis Zimmerman 1 0 1-2 3. Totals: 25 3 13-22 72. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 35 (Saunders 13, Copley 7, Webb 7). Turnovers: 6.