PROCTORVILLE — When the ship began to sink, Chesapeake Lady Panthers’ coach Chris Ball turned to his captains.

Seniors Courtney Heffner, Ashley Jenkins and Allison Chapman helped fight off a second half comeback by Fairland as Chesapeake beat the Lady Dragons 47-36 Thursday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

Chesapeake led by 17 points in the third quarter before Fairland cut the deficit to 6 points in the fourth quarter.

“Fairland came out the second half and got after it and we kind of fell apart mentally,” said Ball.

“But our seniors showed good leadership and righted the ship. Courtney Heffner stepped up and hit a big shot, Allison Chapman played well and Ashley Jenkins helped us at the end.”

The win gave Chesapeake a 3-2 record and enabled them to keep pace with South Point in the OVC race at 2-0.

Fairland fell to 0-6 and 0-2 despite the gallant effort. Lady Dragons’ coach Jon Buchanan was proud of his team’s effort.

“As long as they continue to believe they can win games, they’re going to win. We’re getting better every game. They’re still playing with intensity and they’re doing what we want them to do,” said Buchanan.

“I was encouraged by the way we played in the second half.”

Chesapeake was up 13-5 at the end of the first quarter and 24-12 at the break.

“Defensively we played very well the first half,” said Ball.

The Lady Panthers’ defensive pressure caused Fairland to make just 3 of 25 field goal attempts in the half.

“They took 34 shots and we took 48. We took more shots than them, they just shot them better. We just couldn’t make shots,” said Buchanan.

Keri Napier — who scored all 16 of her points in the second half — had 8 points in the third quarter as Fairland cut the deficit to 31-22.

She scored 8 more in the fourth quarter to get Fairland within 6, but Heffner hit a 3-pointer with three minutes left to push the lead to 9.

“That was a big shot. She’s been stepping up like that for us,” said Ball.

Amanda Ruffner had 11 points and Kimmie Bennett 10 to lead Chesapeake.

Chesapeake 13 11 7 16 = 47

Fairland 5 7 10 14 = 36

CHESAPEAKE (3-2, 2-0): Kristen Webb 0-1 0-0 2-2 2, Sarah Mayo 1-2 1-1 4-4 9, Amanda Ruffner 3-12 0-0 5-8 11, Sarah Rice 0-0 0-0 1-2 1, Courtney Heffner 3-4 1-1 0-0 9, Allison Chapman 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Maggie Smith 0-2 0-0 3-4 3, Kimmie Bennett 3-6 0-0 4-6 10, Ashley Jenkins 1-2 0-0 0-3 2. Totals: 13-32 19-29 47. 3-point goals: 2-2. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Mayo. Rebounds: 28 (A. Ruffner 11, Jenkins 5). Turnovers: 20.

FAIRLAND (0-6, 0-2): Katie Fuller 0-1 0-2 0-0 0, Kayla Swiger 1-7 1-6 0-0 5, Jamie Phillips 1-4 0-3 1-2 3, Megan Brooks 0-3 0-0 1-4 1, Kennon Clarkson 1-10 0-0 4-6 6, Mariah Chaffin 0-1 0-0 0-2 0, Samantha Lamb 2-3 0-0 1-4 5, Keri Napier 4-7 0-0 8-9 16. Totals: 10-47 15-27 36. 3-point goals: 1-11. Fouls: 24. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 23 (Lamb 9). Assists: Swiger 4. Turnovers: 11.