CHC secures first summer victory

by TOM UTESCHER

After dropping a number of close games in Malvern League summer basketball, Chestnut Hill College notched its first victory of the warm-weather campaign, holding off Ursinus College last Thursday, 46-43.

Power forward Kate Quintus and shooting guard Bethanne Castone paced the Griffins with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Kelly McGrath contributed five points while Andrea Carter and Amy Ciaburri put up four apiece.

The opposing ballclub, Ursinus, is coached by Jim Buckley, who was a teacher and girls basketball coach at Germantown Academy for many years.

The Bears moved out to a 6-0 lead in Thursday’s tilt before Quintus put in the rebound of her own shot to give the Griffs their first points about five minutes into the fray. Chestnut Hill caught up at 6-6 thanks to another Quintus lay-up and a baseline shot by Castone.

A little more than halfway through the opening period, the teams were even at 11-all. Three-pointers by Castone and Judy Parise and inside scoring by Carter, Quintus, and Jen Banks powered the Griffins to a 28-23 halftime lead.

After a lone free throw by the Bears at the start of the second half, a trey by McGrath netted CHC its biggest lead of the night at 31-24, but most of the margin disappeared with a 6-0 Ursinus run. Chestnut Hill only made one outside shot the rest of the way, but fortunately for the Griffins their inside players were often in position to convert off of their teammates’ misses.

With the Bears still hanging close at 42-40 approaching the final minute of play, Quintus and Ciaburri each scored on a follow-up attempt to make it 46-40. In the closing seconds Ursinus tossed in its only three-pointer of the night, but the Bears still wound up three points short.