This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Chatham Girls Top Madison in Close Contest

Lady Cougars topple Madison despite a late game Dodger comeback.

MADISON — It was close one. 

Though their nice and comfortable 20-point lead was cut to a mere six in the fourth quarter, the Chatham Lady Cougars clawed their way to a victory against Madison Monday at Madison High School, 47-39.

The Cougars' speed got them on the board first, setting the tone for a fast-paced offense that worked especially well off of transitions. Sophomore Amanda Bernsten was among the Lady Cougar starters who capitalized on Dodger turnovers. She ended the first quarter with five points—two off of a layup and the rest from a deep 3-pointer. 

Find out what's happening in Chathamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Junior Kelsey Davies added a breakaway layup, sophomore Sam Kennedy hit a jumper and senior Caroline Murphy converted a shot to put Chatham up 16-6 at the end of the first eight minutes.

The high scoring Chatham offense kept it going in the second with another Bernsten layup, and the team's size advantage on the boards courtesy of Murphy and junior Kelsey Hart ensured a commanding lead. Hart added six points on a combination of agile drives and proficient shooting, Bernsten racked up another four, and Davies and Murphy put up two each to send the visiting Cougars to the locker room ahead 30-12.

Find out what's happening in Chathamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The scoring spree continued in the second half.  Bernsten added more buckets and Hart hit Murphy on a give-and-go breakaway layup that made a pretty good case for instant replays in high school sports.  On the next possession, Hart took a steal the distance for two.  At the end of three, it was 37-20 Cougars.

While the first three quarters were all Chatham, the Dodgers went on a 13-0 tear in the fourth quarter in an attempt to topple the Lady Cougars late in the game.  Madison worked its way to within six points, but a one-quarter victory rarely beats a three-quarter victory.  The Dodgers could not catch the Cougars, and Chatham got a hard-earned win against its crosstown rivals.

"It's a rivarly game," said Head Coach Joe Gaba. "We got complacent. They're going to play hard to the end, and we need to finish games. Our full court defense went really well and we got easy transition points. It disrupts the rhythm of what they can do."

Both Hart and Bernsten had big performances on the evening, and they too noted the ups and downs of the important road win late in the season.

"We were at our best when we were pushing them back up the floor," Hart said.

When the Dodgers started heating up in the fourth quarter, Coach Gaba called several timeouts to slow down the tempo of the game.

"He was telling us to play our game," Hart said.  "[That we] need to relax and play like we can."

"We kept hitting our shots and fast break layups," Bernsten said of the Lady Cougars' big start.  "It got close because it reversed. We couldn't get any calls."

The team will face Governor Livingston at home Tuesday at 7 p.m.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?