Lady Cougars Prevail in Double Overtime

The Chatham Lady Cougars appeared to have Thursday's game against Pequannock Township at Chatham High School all wrapped up in the fourth quarter.

The team took a 29-19 lead in the quarter's first minute. But the Lady Cougars knew to be wary of Pequannock. During an early January game between the two teams, Chatham also held a ten-point lead late in the game, but watched it slip away.

Pequannock did, once again, come roaring back in the fourth quarter to tie the game. But the Cougars didn't let up and eventually held on for a 50-42 double overtime win.

"I've got to give [Pequannock] credit—we kept building a lead and they kept coming back" said Chatham Head Coach Joe Gaba. "It felt good to just hold on to it."

Chatham steadily built up its lead in the third quarter as junior Kelsey Davies hit sophomore Amanda Berntsen with passes Berntsen converted into layups. But after a Berntsen layup made the score 29-19 in the fourth, Pequannock started to hit its shots. After a series of makes, a three-pointer by Nicole Hausleben cut Chatham's lead to one. And a three-pointer soon afterward by Alyssa Senatore put Pequannock up by two.

But Chatham didn't quit. Junior Kelsey Hart drove down the court for a layup to tie the game at 33, and turnovers from both sides in the final minutes of regulation propelled the game into overtime.

The first overtime was low-scoring, though Chatham held a two-point lead late in the extra period until Hausleben hit two free throws to tie the game. After several turnovers, Pequannock inbounded the ball from underneath its basket with 2.8 seconds to go with the score tied 37-37.

Hart nearly stole the inbounds pass, but the ball ended up in the hands of Pequannock's Colleen Quinn, who sank a desperation three-pointer right after the buzzer sounded. The shot did not count.

"I was so scared," Davies said after the game. Initially, Pequannock celebrated, thinking the shot had counted. But the officials had waved it off before the shot. "Luckily, we got another chance."

And the Lady Cougars capitalized. Davies hit a three-pointer to open the scoring in the second overtime, and senior Caroline Murphy and Hart hit back-to-back layups to stretch Chatham's lead to seven. From there on out, the game came down to free throws, and sophomore Sam Kennedy hit four foul shots in a row to help Chatham ice the game.

"I'm happy for Sam Kennedy," Gaba said.

The Cougars are scheduled to play Kinnelon at 5 p.m. at home on Saturday in a Morris County tournament matchup.