After a lackluster start to the season, Chatham High School (N.J.) Girl’s basketball team found their groove. and went on to rout West Morris Mendham, 43-22, in the 2026 North Jersey NJSIAA Girls Basketball North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 Tournament Championship Saturday at home.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Cougars won their straight sectional crown, and ninth overall.
Chatham (18-12) played the Minutemen (13-14) twice, winning both games, during the regular season, giving head coach Joe Gaba a good report, as bestowed a ton of credit to his assistant Maddy Selvaggi for all of her meticulous, diligent work.
“I thought we did a really good job of not turning the ball over,” said Gaba, who has done an amazing job coaching up this team, according to several media members. “We know their tendencies. They’re a very passing lane-oriented 1-3-1; they don’t really trap out of it,” Gaba explained. “The scouting report showed that they normally don’t handle triple penetration pressure gap well. So, all we worked on for the last couple of days was that.
“Honestly, Maddy deserves a lot of credit, because she has taken scouting completely off of my table,” he added. “She preps all the reports, and then I’ll go watch (video) and break it down and put the clips together. But, in terms of player tendencies, what they do on offense, it all goes to her.”
Chatham established itself in the first quarter, leading 14-4 after senior Ava Paone and sophomore Lucy Arps scored six and five points, respectively.
Playing their typical lockdown, smothering defense, the Cougars shutout Mendham in the second quarter, leading 26-4 at the break.
In fact, the Minutemen did not score over a 13.32 period, spanning from early in the first quarter to early in the second half.
“Our ultimate goal was to be here, and eventually Rutgers (Group 3 State Finals),” said Paone, who is headed to play hoops at Division III Ithaca College. “We knew we could do it. We lost a bunch of starters that were talented. But we all played together in the spring and summer league with Gaba, so we knew how to adjust, and we knew our potential. And we locked in when it mattered.”
Junior Noelle Grady nailed a three-pointer and a free throw, and Panone followed with a bucket to swell Chatham’s advantage to 36-12 with 2:31 at the end the third quarter.
Mendham senior Lila Schoenfeld sank three from the charity stripe to make it 36-17 early in the fourth period.
Junior Shea Lane scored a basket to push the lead to 19 points with 6:33 remaining in the contest.
While the Minutemen dropped in five points, it was not nearly enough for an improbable comeback, with the Cougars winning going away.
Arps led Chatham with 11 points, while Paone contributed 10 in the victory.
The Cougars will host Old Tappen in the semifinals Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.
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