Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

CHESAPEAKE — The Chesapeake Panthers can score in waves. On Friday, they used a tsunami in the fourth quarter.

Trailing by 13 points late in the third quarter, the Panthers outscored Ironton 18-4 over the first 7 minutes of the fourth quarter as they rallied for a 72-63 win over the Fighting Tigers to win the Division 3 sectional title.

Levi Blankenship was once again the big point man for the Panthers as he scored 24 including 14 of their 16 points in the third quarter. Ben Bragg scored 18 points.

Chesapeake (14-8) will play Zane Trace in the district semifinals at 3:30 p.m. next Saturday at the Waverly downtown arena.

Ironton coach Chris Barnes was at a loss to explain the fourth quarter collapse.

“We played a great ball game for three quarters. We did everything we could do,” said Barnes.

“We just couldn’t score in the fourth quarter. We outplayed them except for one quarter. We just ran out of gas at the end. All the shots were flat and we quit attacking.”

Ethan White scored a career-high 20 points and hauled down 18 rebounds to pace Ironton (12-10). Braden Schreck also scored 20 points with Ty Perkins getting 11 points.

“We have a lot of guys coming back. We were in a championship game last week and we were up at the half and we lost. We were in a championship game this week with the lead at the half and lost. Now we just need to take the next step.”

Bragg drove for a layup off the opening tip as Chesapeake took its only lead of the first half.

Ironton scored 6 straight and took a 9-4 lead on a 3-point play by Schreck.

Ty Perkins had a steal and layup Ethan White got outback and Schreck’s layup game Ironton a 15-4 lead

Bragg ended the run but Schreck hit a trifecta and it was 18-6, the Fighting Tigers biggest lead of the half

Levi Blankenship hit a 3-pointer and then Chesapeake took advantage of two straight Ironton turnovers as Caleb Cox and Austin Henderson made layups and it was 18-13.

White had a layup and Bragg a foul shot and it was 20-14 at the end of the quarter.

A layup by White off a pass from Shaun Terry and a 3-pointer byMatt Sheridan made it 25-16 with 6:09 on the clock.

J.D. Daniels’ 3-pointer got the Panthers within 27-24 only to have White get a outback and Schreck a layup for a 31-24 lead.

Dannie Maynard and Blankenship had layups and it was 32-28 but Lincoln Barnes had a layup and Schreck hit a 16-foot baseline jumper and it was 35-28 with 2:35 left in the half

Two foul shots by Barnes made it 37-29 but Maynard hit a long 3-pointer and then came up with a steal and layup to cut the deficit to 37-34 at the break.

Blankenship hit a 3-pointer to start the third quarter and then Ironton went on a 11-0 run with White scoring 6 points in the stretch that was capped by Perkins 3-pointer

A layup by White and and 18-footer by Sheridan gave Ironton its biggest lead at 56-43.

But with their ability to score quickly and in bunches, the Panthers are never out of a game and they proved it as Blankenship hit a 15-footer and a long 3-pointer with Bragg getting a layup and it was 56-50 at the end of the quarter.

“We had them dead to rights and ready to go and (Blankenship) picked them up. He’s a college level player and he did what a college level senior does,” said Barnes.

The Panthers continued with the momentum as Bragg hit a 15-footer and Maynard had a layup to get within 56-54.

Perkins had a layup by Daniels made another 3-pointer and it was 58-57.

White had a spinning layup but Daniels hit another trey to tie the game with 4:18 to play. Blankenship sank two foul shots with 3:29 left to put the Panthers on top for the first time since the opening seconds.

Bragg them had layups and Cox scored to cap an 11-0 run.

Ironton     20 17 19 7 = 63

Chesapeake 14 20 16 22 = 72

IRONTON (12-9): Landen Wilson 0 0 0-0 0, Matt Sheridan 1 2 0-0 8, Ty Perkins 4 1 0-0 11, Shaun Terry 0 0 0-0 0, Braden Schreck 8 1 1-1 20, Ethan White 9 0 2-2 20, Lincoln Barnes 1 0 2-2 4, Jaxon Vance 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 27-65 5-5 63. 3-pt goals: 4-24. Rebounds: 12-O, 28-D = 40 (White 18, Perkins 6, Sheridan 6, Schreck 5). Assists: 13 (Terry 4, Perkins 4). Steals: 3 (Perkins 1, Sheridan 1, Terry 1). Blocks: 2 (Perkins 1, White 1). Turnovers: 13. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None.

CHESAPEAKE (13-8): Caleb Cox 2 0 0-0 4, Levi Blankenship 5 4 2-2 24, Dannie Maynard 3 1 0-0 9, Cameron Shockley 0 0 0-0 0, J.D. Daniels 0 3 0-0 9, Austin Henderson 1 0 0-0 2, Braxton Oldaker 1 0 4-5 6, Ben Bragg 8 0 2-9 18, Carter Collins 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 28-62 8-16 72. 3-pt goals: 8-25. Rebounds: 5-O, 20-D = 25. Assists: 13. Steals: 6. Blocks: 1. Turnovers: 5. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None.