Chatham Pulls Away on Senior Day

Every senior on the Chatham boys' basketball team started Saturday's game against Parsippany Hills at Chatham High School and played well into the second quarter before some were substituted out.

Head Coach Todd Ervin's strategy on Senior Day—to play all his seniors for long stretches—paid off. Even though the game was close at times, the Cougars never trailed, and senior Chris Conroy, as he has done so many times this year, led Chatham to a 57-45 victory.

After the game, Ervin said his goal was to play the seniors—Conroy, Adam Kovonuk, Kevin Giannattasio and Casey Gill—as much as possible. He also wanted them to finish out their regular season basketball careers with a win before they move on to the state tournament next Tuesday at home against Lincoln.

The team achieved both of Ervin's goals.

"It ended up perfect," Ervin said.

Chatham led 13-3 at the end of the first quarter on the strength of its aggressive drives to the basket before Parsippany Hills caught up somewhat. After Gill hit a layup to make the score 15-3, Parsippany Hills senior Greg DePugh took the team on his back, scoring six straight points to bring his team to within six.

Soon afterward, junior Brendan Damodaran was inserted into the game and provided a temporary spark as he ran down the court and hit a layup, but Parsippany Hills didn't led up and cut Chatham's lead to three points—21-18—at halftime.

In the third quarter, Parsippany Hills put together a number of three-point possessions. Sophomore Joe Han hit two three-pointers—including one at the third quarter buzzer—and DePugh converted two three-point plays, but the Vikings were called for two technical fouls in the period, and Conroy hit all four corresponding free throws.

Conroy scored 10 points in the quarter, and Chatham led 38-36 going into the fourth.

That was when Chatham pulled away. Berntsen caught fire, scoring all 12 of his points in the quarter, and two more Parsippany Hills technical fouls helped Chatham even more.

Three quick layups by Chatham toward the beginning of the quarter gave the Cougars a 47-38 lead, and they coasted from there.

"It got a little sloppy, but we pulled it out in the end," Gill said.

Now, Chatham looks forward to its first state tournament matchup against Lincoln at home at 7 p.m. Tuesday. It lost to Lincoln two years ago during the state tournament at home, and team members said they want to make sure that does not happen again.

The team will practice Monday in preparation for the game after a day off, during which the girls' basketball team will play West Morris for the county championship.

"They're going to be athletic," Conroy said. "They'll be ready."