Chatham Can't Make Comeback, Drops Second Straight

The Chatham girls' basketball team dropped its second consecutive game today at home to Ramapo High School 44-29 in the Chatham Cougar Classic Holiday Tournament.

The 3-2 Cougars kept the game close early on, but down the stretch, Ramapo was able to sink key shots.

"They executed very well," Chatham Head Coach Joe Gaba said. "They scouted us very well. We just couldn't get any offense generated. Our ball movement was poor. We were very stagnant on offense. We're a pressing team, and we have to score in order to get into our press. And we just didn't do that."

The Cougars ran the press early in the game and kept it at 8-7 after the first quarter, but they weren't able to regain the lead as they struggled with turning the ball over.

"It's a credit to their defense, but it was a function of just making poor decisions," Gaba said. "We really did make some poor decisions in the open floor, so it was a combination of our decision making and being very well scouted."

Ramapo improved to 4-1 on the season. Junior Sarah Halejian was the team's key offensive threat as she posted 21 points, earning her 1,000th-career point and raising her career points total to 1,007.

"It felt great," she said. "It's definitely good to just get it off my chest, get it out of the way. I don't have to worry about it. I can focus on the rest of the season."

Halejian said the team's defensive effort was important.

"We played good team defense. Everyone was helping each other, so that was a key to the game," she said. "We handled their pressure. We knew they were going to pressure us so we handled that way."

Only four players scored for Chatham, including sophomore Amanda Berntsen and senior Caroline Murphy. Both picked up 10 points apiece.

Berntsen said the lack of offense came from the team's inability to run its plays.

"We were trying to take the ball ourselves to the basket with one-on-three defenders and it just wasn't working," she said. "We didn't get that through our heads until the fourth quarter when we started making our shots. From the beginning, we just weren't clicking together."

Berntsen said in order to bounce back the Cougars will need to work together more.

Chatham takes on Hanover Park High School in its conference opener Tuesday at home. The Hornets are 4-0 and Gaba said they always make for tough competition within the conference. He said the team will need to grow up quickly to take down the Hornets.

"We have to bounce back," Gaba said. "There's no other way around it."