County Championship Dream Ends In Quarterfinals

RANDOLPH – Last year's run to the Morris County Tournament final, with a team dominated by underclassmen, gave the Madison High School boys basketball team a reason to dream of a repeat trip to the County College of Morris.

Saturday, the Dodgers' were rudely awoken from that dream by the sound of a basketball hitting an iron rim.

Chris Conroy hit two free throws with 5.5 seconds left, and Aaron Fant's potential buzzer-beating 3-pointer hit the back of the rim to give Chatham a stunning 37-35 win over Madison in the quarterfinals of the Morris County Tournament.

"I told them that nothing I could say would take away the pain," Librera said. "When you shoot poorly, when you play poorly, you run the risk of losing the game. And that happened today."

Chatham (12-8), the No. 6 seed, advances to play No. 2 Delbarton in next week's semifinals at CCM.

Conroy led all scorers with 13 points, while Mike Haughey led Madison with 11.

The Dodgers (17-2) have already earned more victories than last season's team, and made it to the middle of February until losing their first game. But Saturday, they never found their rhythm offensively, and even when they got open looks, nothing seemed to fall on the unkind rims at Randolph High School.

Madison had one of their worst shooting games of the season–topped off by Jake Meister's nightmarish 1-for-16 game–and scored by far its fewest number of points in any game this season.

"If Jake shoots 1-for-16, we're just not gonna win games," Librera said. "He struggled to get in rhythm, and all credit to Chatham for that."

Still, they had several chances to win late.

Trailing 35-34 inside the final three minutes, floaters from Fant and Mike Haughey hit every part of the unkind rim before bouncing out. It was that sort of day for the Dodgers.

"On a day like this, we need to hit some shots," Librera said. "We did that towards the end of the second quarter, but not nearly enough, obviously."

Chatham held their precarious lead into the final minute, when their tight defense forced Haughey to take a contested, off-balance 17-footer. It hit nothing but air, and Conroy made the rebound, drawing a fifth foul on Madison's Robbie Savacool with 31 seconds left.

After Conroy missed the front end of the 1-and-1, Madison had a chance to take the lead with under 30 seconds to play. Fant drove the lane and drew a foul of his own, but he hit just one of two free throws, tying the game at 35-35.

On Chatham's ensuing possession, Conroy caught a pass above the 3-point line, drove from the top of the key inside, and drew a foul with 5.5 to play.

"He's a ferocious player," Librera said.

He knocked down both free throws to put Chatham ahead for good. Fant moved the ball across half court before Librera called timeout to set up one final shot.

Librera got the shot he was looking for–Fant came off a screen and caught the ball about 25 feet away from the basket and launched a clean look. But it was just long, and the Dodgers suffered their second heartbreaking loss in a row.

"That's a play we had practiced," Librera said. "We figured now would be a good time to bring it out. We'll take that look every time. But it was kind of the underlying theme of the night. It just didn't go in."

Madison lost their perfect season Tuesday on a buzzer-beating loss to Hanover Park, but Saturday's defeat to the Dodgers' main rival, in a single-elimination setting, was arguably more crushing.

Madison still has plenty to play for, though Librera said it would be tough to get that message across to his team Saturday.

They will clinch at least a share of the NJAC-Independence title if they can win their final three league games–including a rematch with Chatham–and they will be the top seed in the North 2, Group II state playoffs, which begin in two weeks.

But this team made it their mission to return to CCM and bring home Madison's first-ever boys basketball county championship. Most of the core of this year's team–save senior Savacool≠will be back next year, when expectations will be similarly high.

Savacool scored 11 points, giving him double-figures in each of Madison's last five county tournament games, stretching back to last season.

He also contained Conroy for most of the second half, holding him scoreless from the 5:25 mark of the third quarter until he fouled out with just over 30 seconds to play.

"Robbie's got a little bit more basketball to play," Librera said. "We just wish a little more was in this county tournament."

Half of Conroy's points came as Chatham jumped out to an 11-2 lead late in the first quarter, a total reversal of Madison's hot start when the two teams met on Jan. 14 - a 49-47 Dodger win in Madison.

But Madison, who settled for low-percentage jumpers in the first quarter, began to get to the rim in the second. The Dodgers scored 18 second-quarter points to claim a five-point halftime lead, 22-17, aided by an 8-2 disparity in free throw attempts.

Chatham's defensive strategy–sagging in close to the hoop and taking away driving lanes from Fant and Meister, forcing long shots or contested close shots–worked perfectly in the second half. The Dodgers made just three field goals in the third and fourth quarters.

"We really wanted to take away Fant and Meister," Conroy said. "We know they're good players and they can drive. We wanted to make them kick it out and make someone else beat us."

The Cougars came out strong in the third quarter, using another 11-2 run to take a four-point lead. The key possession of the third quarter saw Brian Ballard knock down a 3, giving Chatham the lead back (25-24) with 3:28 to play, and a foul called on Madison underneath the basket, returning possession to the Cougars.

Nine seconds later, Adam Kovonuk knocked down another 3-pointer, and Chatham went from a two-point deficit to a four-point lead.

Chatham completely neutralized Madison's leading scorer, Meister, who scored five points. His floater off the backboard restored the Dodgers' lead, 31-30, with 6:22 to play.

Meister later hit two free throws to give Madison its final lead, 34-32, before Brendan Damodaran knocked down a crucial 3-pointer with 3:19 left, giving Chatham a 35-34 lead.


NEXT UP

Madison will have four days to stew over its two-game losing streak, as they travel to Dover High School Thursday night for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The Tigers (4-16, 1-8) haven't won a league game since an upset of Morris Catholic on Jan. 14. Madison easily dispatched Dover, 49-26, back on Jan. 22.

SCORING SUMMARY
Chatham  11   6  13  7  -  37
Madison    4  18   7  6  -  35

INDIVIDUAL SCORING
CHAT- Chris Conroy 13, Brian Ballard 7, Brendan Damodaran 6, Adam Kovonuk 5, Jonathan Bernstein 2, Casey Gill 2, Kevin Giannattasio 2
MAD- Mike Haughey 11, Rob Savacool 9, Jake Meister 5, Matt McHale 4, Aaron Fant 4, Matt Gilbert 2

Download the movie