A Junior Stars in Chatham's Senior Day Win

Team unity and on court chemistry led the Chatham High girls basketball team to a 43-30 home victory over rival Madison on Senior Day on Monday.

The Chatham High School gym was donned with neon colored signs thanking and congratulating its two seniors and co-captains, Kelsey Davies and Kelsey Hart, for the season and their basketball careers at Chatham.

The win also clinched the conference championship for Chatham.

“It was really nice that we came out strong,” Hart said. “It’s nice that we are going to be up on the banner—2011.”

While a conference title has been a goal of the Cougars since the beginning of the season, Davies cited a less tangible aspiration that she believes the team has reached.

“Getting good team chemistry was a goal in the beginning of the season,” Davies said. “Just spending time with the team we have all gotten really close, and it really shows on the court.”

In a pre-game ceremony head coach Joe Gaba cited individual accolades of his two seniors before each senior was greeted by her family.

From the beginning of the game, Chatham outpowered the Dodgers. Megan Conners hit two 3-point shots a minute apart to bring the Cougars up 6-0, a lead that swelled to 10-3 by the end of the first quarter.

The Cougars kept the lead throughout the game while also serving an aggressive defensive scheme,  which limited a frustrated Madison team to only five points in the first half, compared to Chatham's 26 points. Junior Amanda Berntsen scored 12 of her 18 points in the second quarter alone.

After coming out of halftime, the Dodgers stepped up their offense behind Sami Cicconi. The Dodgers outscored the Cougars 14-8 in the third quarter, with Cicconi contributing 9 of her 18 total points in that span.

“Sami really stepped up,” Madison head coach Stephen Finkelstein said. “She is asked to do so much for this team and I don’t know how she does it.”

Cicconi's efforts cut Chatham's lead to only 15 points going into the final quarter, but the Cougars did not disappoint in front of their home crowd. In the last quarter they poured on a series of jump shots and foul shots in single bonus to solidify the win.

“The last time we played them [Madison] we struggled,” Hart said. “It's nice that we can show that we can play—especially because they are our rivals and neighbors.”