In Bear Creek on Friday night

Skertich steals the show with late game heroics for Bears

Moore leads Central with 14 points

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Updated:

It could be said Chatham
Central literally
stole a victory Friday
night in Gerald L. Binkley
Gymnasium.

With the score knotted
at 51-all and Clover
Garden looking to take
the fi nal shot as the clock
was winding down, the
Bears’ Lucas Skertich
intercepted a Grizzlies’
pass near midcourt and
drove in for a wide-open
layup with 19 seconds
left to lift Chatham
Central to a thrilling 53-
51 Central Tar Heel 1A
Conference win.

Gaining the triumph in
their fi rst-ever matchup
with Clover Garden,
the Bears boosted their
record to 4-1 against conference
opponents and
5-6 for the year, while
the Grizzlies slumped to
3-2 in the league standings
and 11-7 overall.

Michael Moore tossed
in 14 points and Jamieon
Degraffenreaidt totaled
11 for the victors, who
shot 21-of-50 (42%)
from the fl oor and commanded
a 36-24 advantage
on the boards while
turning the ball over 14
times.

Heath Worsham paced
Clover Garden with 18
points while Noah Tickle
and Lawson Pope fi nished
with 11 and 10 points,
respectively. The Grizzlies
connected on 19-of-50
(38%) of their fi eld goal
attempts while only committing
nine turnovers.

After battling to a 6-6
stalemate in the opening
three minutes of action,
Pope’s trey from the right
wing with 5:20 to go in
the fi rst period gave Clover
Garden a brief threepoint
lead before Chatham
Central ran off seven
straight points as part of
a 12-3 quarter-ending run
that thrust the Bears in
front 18-12.

Following Worsham’s
layup that trimmed the
gap to 20-17 with 3:05
left in the fi rst half,
Jarious Cheek’s tip-in
24 seconds later ignited
an 8-0 Chatham Central
burst that put the winners
up by double digits prior
to Pope’s put-back in the
paint as the horn sounded
to slice the margin to 28-
19 at the break.

Worsham’s midcourt
steal and layup with
exactly four minutes
remaining in the third
stanza pulled the Grizzlies
within 30-26 before the
Bears managed to restore
a 10-point advantage just
over a minute later and
led 40-30 when Worsham’s
three-pointer from
the right wing at the horn
narrowed the difference
to seven heading into the
fourth quarter.

Fueled by treys from
Tickle, Pope and Matt Hall, Clover Garden launched a rally down
the stretch that eventually
put the Grizzlies in the
lead at 49-47 following
Hall’s three-pointer from
the right wing with 3:46
to play.

After Moore responded
with a layup to draw Chatham
Central even at the
3:11 mark, Hall and Degraffenreaidt
exchanged
hoops to forge the
evening’s final tie with
1:50 on the clock and set
the stage for Skertich’s game-winning theft.

CG 12 7 14 18 – 51
CC 18 10 12 13 – 53
Clover Garden (7-11, 2-4) –
Hall 2 0-0 5 Pope 4 0-0 10
HWorsham 7 3-4 18 Tickle 4
0-0 11 IWorsham 2 1-2 7 Tate
0 0-0 0 Jones 0 0-0 0 Glasco
0 0-0 0. Totals 19 4-6 51.
Chatham Central (5-6, 4-1) –
Dodson 1 3-3 6 Fuquay 3 0-0
6 Cheek 3 2-4 8 Degraffenreaidt
4 3-3 11 Moore 6 2-3
14 Skertich 3 0-2 6 Wilson 0
0-0 0 Lagenor 0 0-0 0 Nall 1
0-0 2 Gaines 0 0-0 0. Totals 21
10-15 53.
Halftime-Chatham Central 28-
19. Three-point goals-Clover
Garden 9-30 (Tickle 3-8, Pope
2-4, IWorsham 2-7, HWorsham
1-2, Hall 1-9); Chatham
Central 1-11 (Dodson 1-3,
Skertich 0-2, Moore 0-2,
Degraffenreaidt 0-4). Fouled
out-None. Rebounds-Clover
Garden 24 (HWorsham 10);
Chatham Central 36 (Moore
13). Turnovers-Clover Garden
9; Chatham Central 14. Total
fouls-Clover Garden 13; Chatham
Central 9.

Chatham central, boy's basketball, Clover garden, high school