Issacs, Lady Panthers make needed plays to advance to district semis

CHESAPEAKE — Welcome to The Abbey Isaacs and Friends Show.

Isaacs scored 32 points while her teammates combined for another 24 points as the Chesapeake Lady Panthers pulled away late to beat the Zane Trace Lady Pioneers 56-46 in the Division 5 district quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Chesapeake coach Chris Ball was elated with Issacs effort, but was especially pleased with the rest of the team being able to contribute down the stretch.

"Abby scores the ball well for us, there's no doubt about that. I thought Dillon she had that big three, but fouled out right after that and Chole had some great rebounds down the stretch."

Isaacs got offensive help as both Sara Dillon and Chloe Parrott scored 7 points, Abby Mitchell 6 and Ciera Nichols added 4 as Chesapeake advanced to Saturday’s semifinal game against Portsmouth West at 4:15 p.m. in the Waverly Downtown Arena.

The lead changed hands four times early including Zane Trace taking a 9-8 lead at the end of the first quarter on a basket by Savannah McCloskey.

Chesapeake took the lead for good when Parrott sank two foul shots with 3:05 left in the first half.

Isaacs drove for a basket and made two foul shots for a 21-15 lead.

"We didn't get the start we wanted. We wanted to get on them early and maybe try to make them go away but it never happened," said Ball. "We had multiple girls contribute which is a good thing at this time of the year."

Ava Giggly hit a jumper to cut the deficit to 21-17 but two more free throws by Isaacs with 8 seconds left in the half put the Lady Panthers ahead 23-17.

The Lady Pioneers got within 32-30 with 1:40 left in the third quarter when Brynn Snavely sank a pair of free throws.

But a basket by Mitchell followed by two shots from Isaacs gave Chesapeake a 38-30 lead to end the quarter.

Zane trace closed the gap to 50-46 only to have Isaacs go 3-for-4 at the foul line, Parrott sank one of her two attempts and Isaacs hit a jump shot and it was 56-46.

"Start from the bottom, this wasn't your typical 5-seed versus 20-seed game. They put together a tough schedule," said Ball. "We watched film on them and they're a lot better than advertised."

Snavely scored 14 points to lead Zane Trace (4-19).

Zane Trace 9 8 17 13 = 46

Chesapeake 8 15 13 15 = 56

ZANE TRACE (4-19): Charlie Clark 2 0 2-2 6, Brynn Snavely 4 0 6-10 14, Haylynn Boggess-Pierce 4 0 0-0 8, Emma Houston 3 0 2-4 8, Gabi Mathis 0 0 0-0 0, Madison Will 0 0 0-0 0, Ava Gigley 1 0 0-0 2, Kaydance Burkitt 0 0 0-0 0 0, Savannah McCloskey 1 0 0-0 2, Totals: 16 1 11-18 46. Rebounds: (O-11, D-11) 31 (Brynn Snavely 7, Houston 7, Boggess-Pierce 5). Assists: 3 (Clark 2). Steals: 9 (Will 3, Clark 2). Blocks: 2. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: Clark (4th, 1:59), Houston (4th, 1:52), Boggess-Pierce (4th, 0:15).

CHESAPEAKE (14-8): Sara Dillon 2 1 0-0 7, Abbie Isaacs 8 1 13-18 32, Chloe Parrott 2 0 3-4 6, Abby Mitchell 3 0 0-0 6, Ciera Nichols 0 1 1-2 4, Hollie Moore 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 3 17-26 56. Rebounds: (O-5, D-21) 26 (Parrott 10, Issacs 4, Mitchell 3, Nichols 3). Assists: 5 (Dillon 2). Steals: 11 (Issacs 4, Nichols 3). Blocks: 1 (Issacs). Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Sara Dillon (4th, 3:18).