LIVINGSTON MANOR — The Livingston Manor Wildcats hosted the Chapel Field Lions on Wednesday night for a division matchup. Chapel Field, last year’s state runners-up, won a close first matchup against Livingston Manor, and it looked to be a tough fight for Manor to get the home court win. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, Chapel Field was able to secure a sizable lead early on and maintain that for the entirety of the game. The Lions went on to snatch a 57-37 win out of the Wildcats lair.

The first quarter was intense and both teams came racing out of the gate. It was a neck and neck shootout with threes coming from almost every player on the court. With both Aiden Johnston of Livingston Manor and Jonah McDuffie of Chapel Field leading their respective teams in made jump shots. Both players went on to be the highest scorers for each of their teams. Chapel Field gained a slight one-point lead over the Wildcats with 15-14 to end the first quarter.

Quarter two proved to be the beginning of the end for Livingston Manor as they were only able to score six points to Chapel Field’s 20. Manor could not seem to shut down Chapel Field’s shooters, and multiple CF players knocked down three pointers. Meanwhile the only points the Wildcats were able to pick up were off foul shots. Livingston Manor went into the half down 35-20 to Chapel Field.

The second half saw the Wildcats return with ferocious energy. They hustled on defense and played an aggressive man to man but it still wasn’t enough to stop Chapel Field’s accurate shooters. Manor gave up a few key turnovers that seemed to seal their fate, but they still never gave up and even hit a buzzer beating shot to end the third quarter. Chapel Field led the Wildcats 52-30 going into the final quarter.

Both teams came into the last quarter with incredible hustle and determination. Even as both teams emptied their benches, the energy and pace remained. At this point Chapel Field seemed more concerned with ball possession and running the clock out and it was the lowest scoring quarter for both teams. Chapel Field was able to secure a well fought victory over Livingston Manor and ended the game 57-37.

Livingston Manor Coach, Charlie Hicks, had this to say after the game, “Chapel Field is a great team, their defense is amazing and they outplayed us in every aspect tonight. We have three games left before sectionals so we are just focused on getting some final things like rebounding and physicality ready to play.”