Chatham Girls Win Defensive Battle

The Chatham Lady Cougars led for most of Tuesday's home game against the Parsippany Red Devils and pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 43-31 victory.

But Head Coach Joe Gaba was not entirely satisfied with the way his team played.

"We survived," he said. "Parsippany is always a tough matchup for us. Even though they don't have a lot of size, their quickness [helps them]."

Chatham jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first quarter after a three-pointer from senior Caroline Murphy. But Parsippany fought back, scoring five points in a row in the second quarter—including a three-pointer from Alyssa Kastrunis—to take a 14-13 lead.

But Chatham soon afterward too a lead it never relinquished. Several layups from sophomore Amanda Berntsen help the Lady Cougars build a 21-14 lead at halftime.

"This is a team we need to score quick buckets against," said Gaba, who said his team tried to press the ball down the court throughout the game in an effort to keep the Red Devils from getting set in their zone defense.

Five straight points from junior Kelsey Hart—including a three-point play—gave Chatham a 28-16 lead in the third quarter. Parsippany was eventually able to cut the lead to four in the fourth quarter after a Kayla Picinich three-pointer, but Chatham senior Emily Frank followed that score with a three-pointer of her own to give Chatham a seven point lead.

"It was an intense game," Murphy said. "They kept it close in the end, then got us pretty frazzled. We just needed to calm down.

Gaba said it was important for his team to remain focused. The Lady Cougars will face Whippany Park in a county tournament matchup on Saturday but first need to face Madison on the road on Thursday.

"We have a lot of big things that we're trying to accomplish," he said.