SILER CITY — The Chatham Charter boys basketball team did what all good teams are supposed to do when facing an inferior opponent on Monday Night in Siler City in 1A Central Tar Heel Conference tournament first round action. And that’s roll.
Chatham Charter completely dismantled visiting Cornerstone Charter 76-45 in a game not as close as the final score indicated.
The Knights improved to 25-3 on the season with the win and advanced into the semifinals against county-rival Chatham Central.
The Cardinals, out of Greensboro, closed its 2018-2019 campaign at 6-17.
From the outset, Chatham Charter dominated, using a 21-9 spurt in the opening period to grab control.
“We wanted to set the tone early and to come out aggressive on both ends of the court,” said Chatham Charter coach Jason Messier. “Defensively, we put the pressure on them and created a lot of turnovers in the opening half.”
The result was the Knights expanding its lead to 51-25 at the intermission after a 30-point outburst in the second period.
“In the second quarter we played about as well as we have the entire season,” continued Messier who’s team shot 48% (30-63) from the field. “The ball movement was great and we found a lot of open and high percentage shots.”
That was highlighted by the Chatham Charter score sheet which saw 10 different Knights score in the victory in about as balanced a performance as a team could get.
Chatham Charter outscored Cornerstone 20-7 in the third to take a commanding 71-32 advantage into the fourth before cruising to the 76-45 triumph.
Jordan Hamilton led the way with 14 points for Chatham Charter while Cole Milholen, Connor Murphy, and Ryan White added 10 points apiece, Trevor Golden nine, A.J. Alston eight, and Tyler Dettmer seven.
Hamilton added seven rebounds and four assists, Milholen an assist and six steals, Golden four boards and two assists, White four rebounds and three assists, and Murphy four boards, an assist and three steals.
Cornerstone was paced by 13 points, 5 rebounds, four assists and two steals from Daniel Carson while Noah Edwards chipped in 10 points, 10 boards, one steal and an assist.
“It was a big win in that we played well and took care of business to advance,” closed Messier. “The game with Chatham Central is very important in that it will decided the No. 2 seed when the state playoffs start next week. So we need to come out with the same focus and intensity.”