Rooney Time: Sophomore Guard Nails Game-Winning Trey to Give Chatham Hoops Heart-Pounding Win Over Somerville in Cougar Classic

It was certainly an exciting game, indeed.

Chatham and Sommerville boys varsity basketball teams fiercely battled back and forth all game long. But sophomore Cam Rooney drilled a three-pointer with 3.6 seconds to go to give the Cougars an electrifying 64-63 victory Saturday at home in the Cougar Classic.

Chatham (2-2) took a 16-12 lead in the first quarter. Rooney hit eight straight unanswered points to extend the Cougars’ advantage to 26-17 with 4:52 remaining in the first half.

Rooney sank two from the charity stripe to give the Cougars a ten-point lead with 1:29 left in the second quarter and senior Sean Barry drained a buzzer-beater from behind the arc to put Chatham ahead by a score of 34-23. 

Senior Andrew Bergman muscled his way to four straight points to open the second-half scoring, giving his team a 38-23 lead with 6:41 left in the third quarter.

Next, junior Jack Casano-Boris swelled the Cougar advantage to 40-23, but the Pioneers sliced the deficit to 47-39 by the end of the third period.

Nine unanswered points, capped by Ethan Hillman’s (23 pts) resounding one-handed dunk, gave Sommerville (3-1) a one-point advantage with 5:52 remaining in the contest. 

The affair went back and forth, tooth and nail the rest of the way until Rooney’s heroics gave Chatham the thrilling win. 

Casano-Boris scored a game-high 24 points while Rooney contributed 18. 

The Cougars square off against Madison Monday night at 8:00 p.m. in the final game of the Cougar Classic.  

Watch Cam Rooney’s game-winning three-pointer in the video below. 

— Jerry Del Priore