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 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
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