Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
WAVERLY — If you had asked Chesapeake coach Steven Ater how he felt about his Panthers’ first half performance against Eastern Brown on Tuesday, he’d tell you he’d rather forget it.
Luckily, sometimes the game isn’t about how you start, but rather how you finish.
A late third quarter run helped propel Ater’s Panthers into their first district final since 2022 with a 53-40 win over Eastern Brown in a Division V district semifinal.
CREDIT: Baylee Harris/SOSA
“Things were really tough in the first half. We didn’t play well and I wouldn’t say that we did anything well in the first sixteen minutes,” Ater said. “But we challenged our guys at halftime. We’ve faced a lot of adversity throughout the year. We’ve been there before, and once again, we answered the bell.”
While Chesapeake’s offense seemed to be stuck in the mud for the first eight minutes, Eastern’s Grady Barber came out smoking hot, leading to an early 6-0 lead and forcing Ater to take an early timeout.
It didn’t help much as Barber led another 6-0 run to put the Warriors (18-5) in front at 12-7 through one quarter of play.
With Barber sitting at 10 points to start the second, the Panthers didn’t seem to have a single answer for him.
Instead, they had many answers. Through a collective effort on the defensive side, they slowed down the Warriors’ junior, and kept within striking distance.
“Our guys are just gritty and play with a lot of heart,” Ater said of his team’s defensive mindset. “We didn’t limit [Barber] as much as we’d like, but we really felt that if we dig in and play hard on that end, good things would happen.”
Chesapeake may have found some answers for one scoring threat, but Pryce Murphy picked up the slack for the Warriors by dropping in six points in the second to keep his team in front at 22-17 heading into halftime.
Despite their first half struggles, the Panthers didn’t back down. In fact, they stepped up.
‘Peake evened things up at 22-2 two minutes into the third when Kaden Perkins got a tough bucket to fall through contact before completing the three-point play. While Eastern got a timely bucket from Barber to reclaim the lead at 24-22, it was the last time it had that luxury.
Maddox Kazee made his appearance halfway through the third when he ripped off an impressive sequence that included a 3-ball, a block, and a steal and a layup, forcing a timeout with the Panthers now leading 27-24 with 3:42 left in the third.
“Maddox is just a basketball player,” Ater said of his sophomore standout. “I told him in the first half, ‘You’re fine, you just have to impact the game in other ways.’ He had a key assist to set up a layup for Kaden and eventually the offense came to him.”
The Panthers followed that sequence by ripping off a 9-1 run to end the frame, capped by a Karson Frecka floater as they outscored the Warriors 19-3 in the quarter to make it 36-25 heading to the fourth.
Both teams traded buckets, but the Warriors never got closer than 11 points throughout the rest of the way. Frecka and Perkins put a bow on the win, leading the way to a 17-point fourth quarter cap, extending the Panthers’ season by at least one more game.
The Panthers were led statistically by Perkins who tallied 16 points, four rebounds and four assists. Kazee stuffed the stat sheet as well with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists to go with two blocks. Frecka also had 13 points of his own.
Barber led all scorers with 18 to go with six boards while Murphy added eight points, four boards and two assists for the Warriors.
While Eastern Brown’s season comes to an end, Chesapeake returns to action at 8:15 p.m. on Friday in a Division V district final at Ohio University’s Convocation Center against Wheelersburg, who knocked off Fairland to advance.
BOX SCORE
Chesapeake: 7-10-19-17 = 53
Eastern Brown: 12-10-3-15 = 40
Chesapeake: 17-27 FG, 4-10 3pt., 13-19 FT, 18 Rebounds (Kazee 5, Perkins 4), 10 Assists (Perkins 4, Kazee 4). Scoring: Perkins 16, Kazee 13, Frecka 13, Kerns 7, Thacker 2, Plantz 2
Eastern Brown: 15-49 FG, 3-19 3pt., 8-14 FT, 23 Rebounds (Barber 5, Murphy 4, Pinkerton 4), 6 Assists(Murphy 2, Pinkerton 2). Scoring: Barber 18, Murphy 8, Edmisten 3, Pinkerton 3, Vance 3, Kohler 2, Ramer 2, Florence 1.
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