The Chatham High School (N.J.) Boy’s basketball team looked to get on the right foot against Sparta in its first game of the 2025-26 season.
And, behind 20 points from senior guard Michael MacAniff, the Cougars did just that, as they routed the Spartans, 69-39, Tuesday night at home.
Leading throughout the game, head coach Todd Ervin was able to execute the same game plan that said he hopes to use throughout the season. Moreover, though Chatham was victorious, he said his team is a work in progress, of course.
“The plan is to play nine guys at least, and (go) full tempo the whole way,” Ervin explained. “I thought our press was pretty good. I thought we got the ball down the floor well, but our half-court offense was bad. We certainty not a finished product,” adding that he will take the win, though.
Playing solid defense and attacking the rim at every opportunity, Chatham (1-0) constructed a commanding 24-4 advantage — with MacAniff dropping six points, and seven other players scoring — in the first period.
“I think the win was great,” MacAniff said. “We got everybody involved, and everybody stepped up. I though our offense played well; we scored almost 70 points. Our defensive press was really good. We were running them out of the building.”
After performing pretty much the same in the second quarter as they did in the first, the Cougars held a comfortable margin at 35-15 at the break.
While Sparta (0-10) played better to start the third period, Chatham was able to match its opponents’ performance and led by 21 points (41-20) midway through the third quarter.
After late buckets from MacAniff and sophomore Pat Platek capped the third period, the Cougars pulled away, outscoring the Spartans 18-10 to build a sizable 53-25 advantage.
Leading by 28 points, the fourth quarter was pretty much academic for Chatham, as Ervin inserted his backups to close out the game.
Senior Marco Mannino, a two-sport athlete, contributed 10 points, while sophomore Milo Semioli, junior Jalen Forehan-Kelly, and senior Lochlan Mahoney all chipped in eight points apiece.
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