Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

CHESAPEAKE — It was a tale of two halves.

The Chesapeake Panthers held the halftime lead, but the Fairland Dragons used a big second half to rally for a 61-41 Ohio Valley Conference win on Friday.

Fairland led 10-7 after the first quarter despite five points by the Panthers’ Gage Rhoades.

Chesapeake rallied in the second quarter to take a 22-18 lead. Luke Thomas had all eight of Fairland’s points in the quarter.

The Dragons erupted to outscore the Panthers 25-12 in the third quarter to take a 43-34 lead. Gunner Short hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 points to trigger the outburst for Fairland.

The Dragons held the Panthers to seven points in the fourth quarter as they continued to pull away.

Thomas finished with 18 points and five assists. Short had 16 points while Kollin Van Horn posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Ty Staten had six assists and two steals.

Rhoades had 11 points and three assists for the Panthers. Kolton Webb added 11 points while Brad Meadows had nine points and eight rebounds. Austin Hutchison grabbed four rebounds.

Fairland is now 17-4 overall and 13-0 in the OVC. Chesapeake ends the regular season 16-6 and 10-4 in the OVC.

Fairland played at South Point on Saturday.

Both teams play next week in the Division III sectional tournament at Jackson. Fairland plays a 6 p.m. on Friday and Chesapeake plays at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Fairland 10 8 25 18 = 61

Chesapeake 7 15 12 7 = 41

FAIRLAND (17-4, 13-0): Ty Staten 0 0 6-6 6, Isaiah Howell 2 0 1-1 5, Hunter Ashton 0 0 2-2 2, Kollin Van Horn 6 0 2-7 14, Luke Thomas 5 1 5-6 18, Gunner Short 1 4 2-2 16, Dairus Stapleton 0 0 0-0 0, Hayden James 0 0 0-0 0, Brandon Porter 0 0 0-0 0, Keedrick Cunningham 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-40 18-24 61. 3-point goals: 5-9. Rebounds: 34 (Van Horn 11, Howell 8, State 5, Cunningham 5). Assists: 14 (Staten 6, Thomas 5). Steals: 4 (Staten 2). Turnovers: 7. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None.

CHESAPEAKE (16-6, 10-4): Jake Stevens 1 2 0-0 8, Kolton Webb 4 0 3-3 11, Gage Rhoades 2 2 1-1 11, Brad Meadows 4 0 1-2 9, Wesley Stephens 0 0 0-0 0, Austin Hutchison 0 0 0-0 0, Case McComas 1 0 0-0 2, Ty Wilcoxon 0 0 0-0 0, Austin Browning 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-53 5-6 41. 3-point goals: 4-15. Rebounds: 22 (Meadows 8, Hutchison 4). Assists: 5 (Rhoades 3). Steals: 1 (Rhoades). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Hutchison.