Chatham Drops Slow-Paced Contest; Season Ends

The Chatham boys' basketball state tournament game against Science Park played out in what appeared to be unprecedented fashion in the first half.

Science Park won the game's opening tip and didn't shoot the ball for the first four minutes of the first quarter. Each team only had two possessions in the period and the quarter, oddly, ended tied at zero. Science Park attempted to slow the game down throughout the contest, and it worked. The team defeated Chatham 30-25, ending the Cougars' season.

"We decided we would try to do what we could to be very patient, because we have good ball handlers," Science Park Head Coach Milt Gaylord said. "We just have trouble scoring."

There wasn't much scoring in the second quarter, either. Science Park senior Raheem Balogun was the first to score, at 5:38 into the second period, when he banked a layup and made the free throw after being fouled. But Chatham senior Kevin Giannattasio answered with a field goal, and sophomore Jonathan Berntsen followed with his first of four three-pointers on the night. Chatham took a 7-4 lead at the half.

"Under the circumstances, I think we played pretty well," said Chatham Head Coach Todd Ervin. "We were right there to win it."

After being down by a point minutes into the third quarter, Berntsen struck again with back-to-back three-pointers. Junior Aaron Cobb of the Chargers hit a three-pointer and field goal at the end of the period to make the score 15-14 in Chatham's favor.

But Science Park outplayed Chatham in the fourth quarter. Chatham senior captain Chris Conroy contributed early in the fourth quarter, with four points, yet freshman Quasan Lindsay quickly tied it up with a long three-pointer. After another lead change in the favor of Science Park, Berntsen once again came up big with a three-pointer, to give the Cougars the lead.

It was after this lead change that Science Park would start a 7-0 run to close out the game.

After making the first of two free throws with 51 seconds left on the clock in the fourth period, Science Park senior Amir Gilliam impressively sunk a layup off his own missed shot.  The Chargers continued on the 7-0 run to close out the game and put an end to Chatham's season.

"It hurts, especially for the seniors," Ervin said. "Your last loss is never a good one."

Gaylord praised the Cougar effort.

"Chatham is a good team," said Gaylord. "We checked the schedules and found out that Hanover Park had beaten these guys twice, but I thought from the two times I scouted Chatham that they had a better team. Conroy is a very good player and Berntsen can shoot lights out, so we had great concerns about them."

Cobb led the Chargers with seven, while five other players scored three or more points on the night. On the other side of the ball, Berntsen led the Cougars with 11 points, while Conroy added seven and Giannattasio chipped in six.

"We played hard today," said Giannattasio. "We always do. We just didn't make enough plays."

Chatham will lose seniors Conroy, Giannattasio, Casey Gill and Adam Kovonuk for next year. Ervin said he will count on the rest of the team to step up in their absence.

"We have some good young good players," said Erwin. "And next year all depends on what they do between now and then."