Conroy's Free Throws Win it for Chatham

RANDOLPH -- Call it Chris Conroy's redemption.

Chatham's do-everything senior guard was a part of the 2008-09 Cougar team which was seeded second and shocked by 18th-seeded Montville in the first round of the Morris County Tournament.

Flash forward to Saturday afternoon's county quarterfinal against third-seeded Madison at Randolph High School.

Conroy had just missed two crucial free throws—both the front end of one-and-ones—and watched third-seeded Madison tie the score at 35-35 with 20 seconds to play. With time winding down, Conroy was the choice to take the last shot. He drove the lane, drew a foul, and stood at the free throw line with 5.5 seconds to play.

"I just took a deep breath," Conroy said. "I just focused a little bit more."

This time, Conroy coolly knocked down the free throws. This time, the Cougars would be the ones celebrating an upset county tournament win.

Once the sixth-seeded Cougars survived a last-second three-point attempt, they celebrated an upset win over the Dodgers, 37-35.

They advance to take on second-seeded Delbarton in a rematch of the 2007 MCT championship game, won by Chatham. The semifinal game tips at 6 p.m. next Saturday at the County College of Morris in Randolph.

"It's awesome," Conroy said. "Senior year, to get back to CCM is great. And to do it against Madison, our biggest rival, is even better."

Conroy hit the biggest two free throws of the game, and led all scorers with 13. But all but the final two came in the first 2 1/2 quarters, and Chatham (12-8) might not have had a chance to win the game had it not been for an enormous three-pointer by junior Brendan Damodaran with 3:19 left.

"Brendan's been making plays for us all year," Conroy said. "His defense has been great, he's always hustling."

On this day, his shot swung momentum and put Chatham back ahead, 35-34, after they trailed for much of the fourth quarter.

Madison (17-2) had several chances to retake the lead, but floaters by Aaron Fant and Mike Haughey just rimmed out, the bounces favoring the Cougars on this day.

Chatham held its precarious lead into the final minute, when they forced Haughey to take a contested, off-balance 17-footer. It hit nothing but air, and Conroy made the rebound, drawing a fifth foul on Madison's Robbie Savacool with 31 seconds left.

After Conroy missed the front end of the 1-and-1, Fant drove the lane and drew a foul of his own, but he hit just one of two free throws, tying the game at 35-35.

On Chatham's ensuing possession, Conroy caught a pass above the 3-point line, drove from the top of the key inside, and drew a foul with 5.5 to play.

"He had to make a couple," joked Chatham coach Todd Ervin. "He hasn't shot free throws great this year, but he was due to make one or two of the four."

Once he hit his two free throws, Madison had one last chance to tie or win. They advanced the ball to halfcourt, calling timeout with 2.3 seconds left.

The play drawn up was an inbounds pass to Fant, who caught the ball 25 feet from the basket. He got off a clean look that would have won it for the Dodgers, but the ball hit the back of the rim, and Chatham celebrated its third trip to the county semifinals in the last four years.

"It means a lot to us," Ervin said. "We've been up and down all year. We didn't play great offensively, but we did play great defensively. We can win when we do that."

Conroy led all scorers with 13, half of his points coming as Chatham jumped out to an 11-2 lead late in the first quarter, a total reversal of Madison's hot start when the two teams met on Jan. 14—a 49-47 Dodger win in Madison.

Madison, who settled for low-percentage jumpers in the first quarter, began to get to the rim in the second. The Dodgers scored 18 second-quarter points to claim a five-point halftime lead, 22-17, aided by an 8-2 disparity in free throw attempts.

But Chatham's defensive strategy —sagging in close to the hoop and taking away driving lanes from Fant and Jake Meister, forcing long shots or contested close shots—worked perfectly in the second half. The Dodgers made just three field goals in the third and fourth quarters.

"We really wanted to take away Fant and Meister," Conroy said. "We know they're good players and they can drive. We wanted to make them kick it out and make someone else beat us."

The Cougars came out strong in the third quarter, using another 11-2 run to take a four-point lead. The key possession of the third quarter saw junior Brian Ballard knock down a three-pointer, giving Chatham the lead back (25-24) with 3:28 to play, and a foul called on Madison underneath the basket, returning possession to the Cougars.

Nine seconds later, senior Adam Kovonuk knocked down another three-pointer, and Chatham went from a two-point deficit to a four-point lead.

Chatham completely neutralized Madison's leading scorer, Meister, who scored five points on 1-of-16 shooting from the field, though his one make restored the Dodgers' lead, 31-30, with 6:22 to play.

Meister later hit two free throws to give Madison its final lead, 34-32, before Damodaran knocked down his crucial 3-pointer.

SCORING SUMMARY
Chatham  11   6  13  7  -  37
Madison    4  18   7  6  -  35

INDIVIDUAL SCORING
CHAT- Chris Conroy 13, Brian Ballard 7, Brendan Damodaran 6, Adam Kovonuk 5, Jonathan Berntsen 2, Casey Gill 2, Kevin Giannattasio 2
MAD- Mike Haughey 11, Rob Savacool 9, Jake Meister 5, Matt McHale 4, Aaron Fant 4, Matt Gilbert 2

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