By JIM WALKER

Tribune Sports Editor

 

COAL GROVE — The Chesapeake Panthers weren’t just focused. They were locked in.

The Panthers gave their undivided attention to their first Ohio Valley Conference game as they rolled to an 84-26 win over the Coal Grove Hornets on Tuesday.

“Coal Grove is a different team than in the past. They have different personnel, more athleticism and quickness,” said Panthers’ coach Ryan Davis.

“We were pretty focused and we played hard. I think our size bothered them a little. Javon Thompson did a great job defending tonight.”

Austin McMaster zeroed in on the basket as he poured in a game-high 29 points as he hit 10 of 13 floor shots including four 3-pointers. He also had 13 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 blocked shots.

Patrick Hintz hit 7 of 9 field goal attempts and finished with 17 points for the Panthers who improved to 4-0 overall.

Eric Kennedy added 12 points and 9 rebounds. Chad Meadows had 8 points and 11 rebounds, Brandon Noble 6 assists and Caleb Lindsey 5 assists.

Alex Bare scored 11 points for the Hornets who lost for the first time in four outings.

Chesapeake’s defense held Coal Grove scored for four minutes at the start of each half.

Hintz had 11 points in the first quarter as Chesapeake took a 20-7 lead.

Kennedy and McMaster scored 8 points each in the second quarter as the Panthers outscored the Hornets 24-6 to take a 44-13 halftime cushion.

Coal Grove managed just 3 points in the third quarter. McMaster scored 17 of the Panthers’ 26 points in the third quarter before going to the bench for the rest of the evening.

Taylor Banaei was 3 of 3 from the 3-point line off the bench for the Panthers in the fourth quarter.

Chesapeake was 33 of 65 from the field for 51 percent including 9 of 21 from behind the arc. The Hornets were only able to connect on 11 of 57 shots for 19 percent.

On Friday, Chesapeake is at South Point and Coal Grove visits Rock Hill in league games.

Chesapeake 20 24 26 14 = 84

Coal Grove 7 6 3 10 = 26

CHESAPEAKE (4-0, 1-0): Taylor Banaei 0 3 0-0 9, Austin Carpenter 0 0 0-2 0, Hintz 5 2 1-2 17, Lindsey 1 0 0-0 2, Eric Kennedy 5 0 2-2 12, Noble 2 0 1-2 5, Javon Thompson 1 0 0-0 2, Austin McMaster 6 4 5-9 29, Chad Meadows 4 0 0-0 8. Totals: 24 9 9-17 84. 3-point goals: Fouls: 9. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 45 (McMaster 13, Meadows 11, Kennedy 9). Assists: 25 (Noble 6, Lindsey 5, Thompson 4). Turnovers: 6.

COAL GROVE (3-1, 0-1): Beals 1 0 0-0 2, Bare 5 0 1-4 11, Bryant 1 0 1-2 3, Bender 1 0 0-0 2, Markins 0 0 0-2 0, Steele 1 0 2-2 4, Estep 2 0 0-2 4. Totals: 11 0 4-12 26. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 37. Turnovers: 17.