At halftime, the Chatham Cougars may have felt that they missed the train heading to the Tournament of Champions. The lightning fast and furious Haddonfield Bulldogs ran up and down the court during the first half and irked Chatham’s offense, holding the Cougars to only 5 points in the first quart. But, at half time, the Cougars regrouped, focused on the team effort and relied on each other while using their depth to wear down the Bulldogs. The Cougars may have just caught their own train, called momentum, and rode it all the way to the Tournament Champions. Along the way, the Haddonfield Bulldogs may been asking for the license plate on that vehicle as, what started off to be, solid victory turned into one of the most memorial upsets in Morris County Basketball history.
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The Chatham Cougars improved to 31-1 and tallied onto their already impressive, now 30-game, winning streak with a 48-42 come from behind stunner over perennial Group 2 power Haddonfield (26-5). As any one of the Chatham players or coaches will tell you, it was not one spark that helped mount the comeback, but a team effort. In what may have been a speech worthy of Coach Rockne’s Gipper speech, Coach Ervin had his team leaving the locker believing. Coach’s plan was simple ... allow no lay-ups, contest all threes and pound in inside. It all seemed logical after the fact. In fact, Billy Oliver, an ever-present scoring force, MVP of the Morris County Tournament, a well know warrior in the paint, was 0-5 from 3-point land. You don’t have to go back and reread that, he was 0-5 from behind the arc. Going inside was the obvious plan. But, surprise, surprise, 6’-8” Oliver was not the offensive go-to guy in the third. Group 2 Final MVP Kevin Conroy was lights out. The 6’-6” Senior turned in a Jordan-esk third quarter knocking in 13 points, after a 6-point 1st half. The Cougars outscored the tiring Bulldogs 20-10 in the 3rd frame and stole any momentum that Haddonfield had so dominantly built in the first half.
Opening the second half down 30-19, Conroy notched his first two just 52 seconds into the quarter. The Cougars forced a turnover with swarming-D on the other end. On the return trip, Conroy was fouled going to the hoop and was able to convert on 1 of 2 of the free throw. The Chatham crowd, that was ready for the second half just as much as the players, was louder than ever and it was beginning to feel like a Chatham home game. Not good for the Bulldogs, as the Cougars were undefeated at home. Bulldog Senior Spencer Reed took it to the hoop for two and put the lead back to 12, just 23 seconds later. Conroy, making the best of his coaches’ advice, was fouled going to the basket and converted both free throws, getting Chatham back to ten. Another Conroy basket and Chatham was within eight until Haddonfield’s Keith Hurley hit one of two free throws. Senior Cougar Matt McHugh added two followed by a huge three from Andrew Kovonuk cut the deficit to a comfortable six. If there was ever a time that the Cougars won over the neutral fans, right there and then was it. The RAC erupted, giving the feel of the best March Madness games and momentum officially jumped into the crowd with the white-out sixth man sitting high up in the rafters. The basket was the Cougars’ first from 3-point land and made the Morris County School 1-9 from deep.
Haddonfield answered after the ensuing time out with two just twenty seconds later, giving the South Jersey school a 37-29 advantage. Conroy, not to be outdone, answered with a long range two. The scoring spree continued, as Haddonfield standout Greg Steinberger knocked down a three. The nine point lead with less than two minutes o play in the 3rd may have seemed like a comfortable lead, but Chatham, inspired by their outrageous fans, rolled off the final six points of the quarter. Oliver’s easy lay-up was sandwiched between two Conroy baskets and just like that, the lead was cut to three entering the final frame.
The Bulldogs tried to slow Chatham down in the fourth, but to no avail. Haddonfield had hit their first, and only, field goal of the 4th to gain a 42-37 lead, only to watch shots fall short or bounce out the rest of the way. The Cougars literally took over the court. Offensively, Chatham scored the final 11 points of the game and sported a 17-2 run over the final 10 minutes of the Championship Game. Oliver, who had been quiet all night, converted both free throws with 4:05 left and gave the Cougars their first lead since the 4:00 mark of the first quarter. Things went back to normal for the seasoned Cougars. Oliver was then fouled the next trip back down the court and turned in the conventional three point play. With Cougars flying high, fatigue had set in for Haddonfield. Andrew Kovonuk was left wide open and made the best of it, banking in an easy look from the block. The Senior Guard gave Chatham a 46-42 lead with just 2:30 left to play. Kovonuk added another basket to close the scoring secure the first Group 2 State Championship for Chatham Basketball.
Chatham’s #22 Kevin Conroy on his Jordon-esk third quarter: “Coming in we knew that we had the height advantage on them. The whole game we just wanted to get it down low and pound it inside. Luckily, I got some open looks and I was able to finish them.”
Coach Todd Ervin on his team’s total team effort and the keys to winning this game on the defensive end: “To beat a team like Haddonfield without Billy scoring a lot is just a team win.” And on the solid defense, “We had to defend at the end. I don’t know how many over the backs they had in the fourth quarter, but I know that Burt (Burton Gildersleeve) had two great block outs, got two over the back calls, so I mean that’s what won the game. Defending them … yeah. Defending them was the difference.
Coach Todd Ervin on off-the-bench stand out Andrew Kovonuk : “We got a couple of easy looks from (Andy) Kovonuk penetrating off of breaks … which were big baskets. He fed Billy (Oliver) for a three point play. He kept us in it. He played his normal game. He’s just relentless defensively. On offense he’s really aggressive. He tried to get the basket and drive. He’s a pass first player. He gets in there and gets us some great looks.”
Kevin Conroy on not giving up after the first half: “We are one of the few teams in the state that can go nine deep. So, we just want to wear team down. We knew with start to wear them down with us pressing the whole game. I think that would lead to easy buckets.”
The Chatham starters on the win: “It’s just awesome, it’s a Holiday … This is just as good as Christmas.”
A Chatham player on the great Chatham Sixth-Man/White Outters: “Our students have been great all year. They’ve been behind us. We were undefeated at home. They made our home court really hard to play at. It’s just a tribute to them too … this Group Championship.”
Oliver on his three blocks in the last 2 minutes and the teams’ great defense in the second half: “It’s a great feeling getting your hand on the ball like that, but it was not just the blocks. I don’t think they scored in the last three minutes.” - Actually 5:39 – “ It was all attributed to our defense.”
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