It was a classic, all right.
It took an extra frame, but the Chatham Cougars boys basketball team defeated the Morristown Colonials, 68-62, in overtime on Saturday night at the annual Cougar Classic, which is hosted by Chatham High School.
The Cougars started the night off strong and finished strong—it was the middle that left Cougars fans wanting more.
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Chatham finished the first quarter leading 15-9, but struggled to make shots in the follow quarter. Not only did scoring become difficult, but stopping Morristown did as well—the Colonials outscored Chatham 15-5 in the second frame.
The first half of the third quarter showed much of the same, as Chatham remained scoreless. It wasn't until the two-minute mark in the third quarter that the offense was able to get something going to keep the deficit at five points, 39-34.
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Senior captain Chris Conroy and sophomore guard John Berntsen led the fourth quarter charge as what looked to be a vastly better conditioned Chatham team stormed back to tie the game, 59-59, with time expiring.
"In the end, I think it paid off. I think that had something to do with it," Head Coach Todd Ervin said of his team's conditioning.
It was in overtime that the conditioning really took over as Chatham held Morristown to just 3 points in what was a very physical game.
"It was really tough. They were really athletic. They were playing great defense and we really showed some perseverance at the end," said captain Chris Conroy, whose 25 points and nine rebounds led Chatham.
Berntsen, who sunk two three pointers in the fourth quarter to help send the game to overtime, led all Cougars in the extra period with five points. He finished with 22 points in the win.
"They don't quit. There are two things you can control: Your effort and whether you give up or not. And they played hard and didn't give up," Ervin said. "We played hard the whole time and good things happened."
Chatham improved to 3-0 with the win, while Morristown dropped to 1-2. The Cougars face Millburn High School at 8 p.m. on Tuesday in their second Cougar Classic matchup.
