DENVILLE — First half turnovers and missed shots forced the Chatham Lady Cougars basketball team to turn up their defensive tempo in the second half of a game against Morris Catholic and edge out the Crusaders, 53-50, on Tuesday in overtime on Morris Catholic's home court
Chatham started off strong against the Crusaders, going on an uncontested six-point run in the first quarter. Morris Catholic trailed the entire period, but with 25 seconds left in the first, the Crusaders' Jessica Porada hit a shot to put Morris Catholic on top, 10-9.
Junior Kelsey Hart scored four of her 13 points at the start of the second quarter to bring the Cougars back on top by three points, and a subsequent Kelsey Davies steal and layup brought the Chatham lead to five. But Morris Catholic would not be embarrassed on its own court.
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The Crusaders scored 10 unanswered points before the half was over. Sophomore Amanda Berntsen, who had been quiet for the entire first half, made her first bucket with 12 seconds left in the second quarter. Chatham trailed 20-17 at the half.
"I felt like the first half, I wasn't in the game. I knew the team needed more momentum, and if I started [the momentum] it would help everyone else," Berntsen said.
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Despite some locker room motivation from Berntsen and Chatham's team leaders, Morris Catholic could not be contained defensively early in the second half.
A Berntsen three-pointer with two minutes left in the third quarter put the Cougars within two points, but Morris Catholic quickly answered and Chatham trailed 36-29 going into the last quarter of play.
Chatham raised its defensive tempo in the fourth quarter with much stricter man-to-man defense, frustrating the Crusader offense. Berntsen tacked on eight of her 18 points in the quarter, but it was senior Caroline Murphy who sank a jump shot in the middle of the lane with less than a minute left to play to tie the game at 46.
A series of jump balls followed Murphy's basket, and with 18 seconds left on the clock, the possession arrow pointed in favor of the Cougars. With 7.8 seconds left, Head Coach Joe Gaba called a time out to come up with one last play to put the game away.
The ball ended up in Murphy's hands far beyond the three-point line after a scramble for the loose ball. With time winding down, Murphy hurled the ball toward the basket in a "Hail Mary" fashion at the buzzer. The ball dramatically bounced in and out of the basket, and the game went into overtime.
During the extra session, Chatham came out focused and put the ball in Berntsen's hands for a quick layup. Morris Catholic quickly tied the game up at 48, but a Berntsen three-pointer put the Cougars back on top.
After the Crusaders committed their seventh foul, two Davies free throws made in a one-and-one situation sealed the win for Chatham. Davies finished with 11 points in the game.
"It was great to see Kelsey [Davies] convert on the one and one. I was so happy for her," noted Coach Gaba.
Five minutes before game time, Hanover Park Hornet players filed into the Morris Catholic gym to see if they might be able to get an edge on the Chatham Cougar team that they have lost to twice this season and will have to face in the semifinal round of the Morris County Tournament this Friday.
With Hanover Park watching, Chatham picked up a tremendous amount of momentum to take into the semifinals on Friday.
"It definitely helps to build our confidence," said Gaba, "but we have nothing but respect for the Hanover Park program."
Chatham will face the Hornets in the Morris County Tournament Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Farleigh Dickenson University's Florham Campus.
