Chatham Cougars Boy’s Hoops Slams Morris Hills in MCT Opener; MacAniff Paces Team with 26

It was not the prettiest of games, according to Chatham High School (N.J.) Boy’s basketball coach Todd Ervin. But the Cougars had very little trouble dispatching Morris Hills, as they won, 61-40, in the first round of the Morris County Tournament (MCT) Tuesday night at home.

Senior Michael MacAniff poured in a game-best 26 points, bringing him 20 points closer to the high school career mark of 1,000.

While Chatham won easily, Ervin admitted that his squad will need to step it up going forward.

“I thought our defense was great, I thought our offense was horrible,” Ervin said. “We did not have enough ball movement; a lot of standing around. A lot of people standing around and watching. We have some things to work on, honestly.”

Both teams played to a close 9-8 score in the first period, in favor of Chatham (14-4).

But the Cougars went on a 12-2 run to take a 22-10 lead at the end of the second quarter.

After the Knights (12-7) hit a bucket, MacANiff scored with his left hand to reclaim the 12-point advantage with 7:03 remaining in the third period.

Though MacAniff said the energy was low, Chatham was able to manufacture its own and played a stellar defense which helped them claim the win. However, he did say they will have to perform better offensively in the future in order to beat better teams.

“I think we came in slow,” MacAniff, a two-sport athlete, said. “I mean, it was a Tuesday night. There wasn’t much energy. The atmosphere was a little dull. We had to create our own energy. But I think we played really well on defense. We held them to only 10 points in the first half. But we have to play better. We have to step it up.”

Morris Hills sliced the deficit to 24-19 before senior point guard Ryan Leach, a Kenyon commit, made it 26-19 with a little over five minutes to go in the third quarter.

The Knights fought back, bringing the tilt to five points again with 4:48 left in the third.

But Sonny Arden dropped consecutive baskets, including a three-pointer, to run the score to 31-21 with 4:21 remaining in the third period.

Morris Hills drilled a three-pointer of its own to cut the lead to 31-24 with 2:36 left in the third quarter.

Not to be outdone, senior Justin Zigon nailed one from behind the arc to make it a 10-point affair again with 2:20 to go in the period.

Senior Lochan Mahoney added a bucket, and MacAniff scored from deep to make it 39-26 with a little over a minute and half left in the third quarter.

Chatham ended the period up by a score of 43-28.

Up by 15 points, the Cougars did not leave anything to chance, as they kept their collective foot on the gas pedal to win going away.

Arden contributed nine points, while Leach had six in the victory.

Junior Siddhant Bhansali led the Knights with 13 points.

Chatham travels to South Plainfield Thursday at 7:00 p.m.

— Jerry Del Priore