Brock Netter, Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CHESAPEAKE — One thing that stuck in the back of Maddox Kazee’s mind was how his Panthers lost to Fairland last season in double overtime … twice.
That sickening taste has stuck with him throughout the last year.
So, when the final buzzer sounded on Monday, the only thing on his taste buds was sweet victory.
The junior standout finished the night with 25 points, 10 rebounds and six assists as he led Chesapeake (8-1, 3-1 OVC) to a 70-57 victory over Fairland in Ohio Valley Conference play.
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
“They got us twice last year in double overtime, so we came into the night with something to prove and we definitely played like it,” Kazee said. “We knew they were going to play a fast-paced style, but we did a good job of slowing them down and playing defense while playing our style offensively and attacking the rim. This is a great win for us.”
Part of what aided the Panthers in victory was how they closed out defensively on the Dragons’ outside shots.
But the start of the night didn’t go as planned.
Fairland (5-3, 2-2 OVC) came out white-hot as Ford Rickard, Trevor Lochow and Gerald Love combined to bury four 3’s, opening up a quick 14-7 lead.
The Panthers, however, had a counter as Kaden Perkins and Jon Cooper-Barer each connected from deep, alongside buckets from Kazee and Karson Frecka for a 10-0 run.
Love, though, tallied a rebound and a put back at the buzzer to give Fairland a 17-16 advantage after the first eight minutes.
Frecka and Kazee opened the second with buckets as the Panthers took and maintained a lead. The advantage grew to 28-18, but Fairland’s Cliff Fransen kept his Dragons afloat by scoring six points amid a 10-3 run to cut the deficit to 31-28 going into halftime.
PHOTOS: Images from Chesapeake’s win over Fairland
“Fairland is a high-powered offense and it’s impressive how well they shoot the basketball,” Chesapeake coach Steven Ater said. “They can run up the score in a hurry and they got out on us early from deep. There’s some things you have to be willing to give up and we made our choices, but I thought our guys did a great job responding with a run, staying ahead and tightening up on defense.”
Cooper-Barker scored to open the third before Love countered with a triple to make it a two-point game. Perkins and Frecka scored back-to-back buckets, followed by an old-fashioned three-point play from Andy Chapman that extended the Panthers’ lead to 41-34.
Fairland continued to stay in striking distance, but the Panthers simply had too much firepower to overcome.
Ahead 43-38, Chapman hit a free throw and Philip Thacker notched a rebound and a put back and Kazee then took over. He connected on a three-point play, followed by burying a deep ball at the buzzer to put the Panthers ahead 52-38 — a lead that never fell under 10 throughout the rest of the night.
“This is a huge win for us, especially when you look at the environment we played in tonight,” Perkins said. “Having already lost in the league, we knew how much we needed this one. I think the loss helped us a lot and showed us a lot. So it’s only up from here and it feels like we’re a whole new team.”
Following Kazee’s statistical finals, Perkins added 15 points while Frecka had 11 points. Cooper-Barker mixed in 10 of his own.
For the Dragons, Lochow ended with 22 points while Fransen had 12 points and 14 rebounds. Love also helped out with 11 points.
Chesapeake returns to action on Thursday at Gallia Academy, while Fairland travels to Rock Hill that same evening.
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