The Alternative Press

CHATHAM, NJ - It was a tale of two halves for the Chatham girls' varsity basketball team. In the first half, the Cougars found themselves in a slow-paced, low scoring affair with Parsippany Hills.

But after the intermission, the Cougars turned on the scoring switch, beating the Vikings, 47-23, on Tuesday at Chatham High School.

"They play great defensively and they gave us problems in the first half," Chatham head coach Joe Gaba said. "All we did was come out and hit some shots. Grace started finishing around the basket. Really, that was just the difference, our ability to wear them down a little in the third quarter and pull away."

The Cougars led by only three at halftime, 17-14. As much as they struggled offensively, Chatham was able to hold the Vikings to five or less points in three of the four quarters in the game.

"We just played hard and put a lot of pressure on them," Chatham forward Grace Conroy said. "We were able to contain them offensively."

Conroy led the second half scoring surge, putting in nine of her game-high 25 points in the final 16 minutes.

She, along with Kendall Davies who had 14 points, caused the Vikings fits for the last two quarters. Working inside-out, the Cougars were able to consistently find the open player on the floor.

Gaba said without this two-way offensive scheme, his team would struggle to score points.

"That's how are team is built," he said. "Grace on the inside, Kendall on the outside. Its just important that we have the inside-out presence. If only one worked, thats when we certainly struggled."

The Cougars will travel to West Morris on Thursday for their third meeting of the year. West Morris took the first game, 62-52, with Chatham winning the second, 57-53.

Davies said each win is important because they know a loss will end the season.

"Obviously its states, so every game could be our last," she said. "We want to come out hard every single game. Every win is a big win."