Chatham High School (N.J.) Basketball team jumped out to a 12-0 lead after senior center Quinn Burke banged home a three-pointer with 5:30 left in the first quarter.
The Cougars (5-0) ran with that first period momentum the rest of the way, as they toppled Cranford, 79-53, Saturday night in Day 2 of the Cougar Classic at home.
Although Chatham won in convincing fashion, Cougar head coach Todd Ervin said they played little bit uneven at times for his liken.
“I thought we played a good first quarter. The second (quarter) was okay,” Ervin said. “But the second half was not good. Defensively, we weren’t very good. (We) made a lot of mistakes with the ball, offensively. First half was good, second half was not good.”
The speed of play of the second half had picked up, but Ervin said his players prefer playing an up-tempo style. They just need to clean up certain aspects of their game going forward.
“We played a little sloppy, but that’s fine. We like playing at that pace,” he said. “But we got to do a better job of taking care of the ball and defending (the opposition).”
Burke added five more points, and junior Michael Macaniff capped the first period with an emphatic dunk for a 25-10 advantage.
The 6-foot-7 Burke opened up the second quarter’s scoring by displaying his sweet outside shooting with another successful shot from beyond the arc. From there, Chatham went on a 9-3 run with 5:20 to go in the second period.
The Cougars went on the finish the first half up by a score of 46-23.
Cranford (0-5) went on an 7-0 run to start the third quarter. But junior Marco Mannino dropped in a basket to help get Chatham back on track.
Junior Sonny Arden followed that up by drilling a three-pointer for a 21-point (51-30) lead with 5:46 remaining in the third period.
Macaniff closed out the third quarter with four points, which gave the Cougars a 66-37 advantage.
The fourth period saw Chatham’s backups seeing some hardwood time, as seniors Carter Hilgendorff and Ollie Lane scored three points apiece en route to its 26-point win.
Burke scored a game-best 23 points. Mannino contributed 11 points, while juniors Ryan Leach and Macaniff added 10 and nine points, respectively.
The Cougars will square off against New Providence Monday at 7:00 p.m. in the final game of the Cougar Classic at home.
— Text and photos by Jerry Del Priore
NY NJ Sports World/Brooklyn Sports World 