Chatfield girls hoops off to 3-0 start after win over Green Mountain
LITTLETON — Playing early and playing often has worked like a charm for Chatfield’s girls basketball team.
The Chargers won their third game in five days Friday night with a 60-54 victory over Green Mountain at Chatfield High School. It’s been a busy, but successful opening week of the 2018-19 season for the Chargers.
“Being here for four years we’ve struggled the last three years,” Chatfield senior Emma Talbot said. “Starting the season off strong is really good.”
It’s the first three-game winning streak for the Chargers since starting the 2016-17 season with three straight victories.
“This start really helps a lot,” Chatfield’s second-year coach Audra Lynn said. “Getting those live-action games is something you really can’t recreate in practice.”
Chatfield got off to a great start facing a Green Mountain team that was playing its first game of the year. The Chargers never trailed and pushed their lead up to double-digits midway through the second quarter.
Talbot and sophomore Madison Shepard were the driving forces on the offensive side. Both had 11 points at halftime. Talbot hit her fourth and fifth 3-pointers of the game in the first couple of minutes of the third quarter, but also picked up her fourth foul that forced her to take a seat on the bench.
“It was hard. They put me on (Green Mountain sophomore Courtney Hank). We watched some film of her and she is pretty good,” Talbot said. “She is a lot bigger than me. I did my best.”
Despite sitting for a good part of the second half, Talbot finished with 19 points before fouling out in the final minute. Shepard finished with a dozen points before fouling out and senior Tedy Reed also pitched in a dozen points.
The Chargers finished with nine 3-pointers. They have made 19 pointers during Chatfield’s first three games.
“We are definitely going to be a shooting team this year,” Talbot said. “We don’t have much size. We are going to have to rely on our shots to fall and our speed. We need to keep running.”
Chatfield pushed its lead up to 20 points in the third quarter, but had to hang on late. Green Mountain had 25 points in the fourth quarter after scoring just 29 points through the first three quarters.
“Chatfield was really comfortable on its home floor with a lot of energy and came ready to play,” Green Mountain coach Darren Pitzner said. “It took us 16 minutes to warm up, which you never want to see. Our girls did show what they can do, but you have to show that energy from the start.”
Hank led the way for the Rams finishing with a game-high 20 points. Senior Savannah Hapke buried five 3-pointers on the way to 19 points for Green Mountain.
The Rams cut the lead to single-digits with under a minute to play, but Chatfield sophomore Ashley Long made a couple of key free throws in the final minute to ward off Green Mountain’s rally.
Green Mountain (0-1 record) has its home opener against Conifer on Tuesday, Dec. 4.
Green Mountain’s final game last season was a loss to eventual state champion Evergreen in the second round of the Class 4A state tournament. However, the Rams gave the now two-time defending 4A champs their toughest game of the tournament. Evergreen escaped with a 38-36 win.
“We have a really tough non-league schedule to get us ready for a tough league,” Pitzner said. “I’m excited about my team and I love my kids. I’m excited to see what we can do when we all get on the same page.”
Chatfield (3-0) had its first road test at Far Northeast on Tuesday, Dec. 4.
“We don’t want to get overconfident,” Talbot said. “We have some tough games coming up.”
