For the entirety of the first half, the two teams seemed evenly matched, heading into halftime tied at 17-17. After intermission, Chateaugay came out red hot offensively. The team nearly doubled its total points in just the third quarter, outscoring Tupper Lake 15-9. The Bulldogs then continued their efforts by finishing the game on a 15-8 run.

“It really came down to shooting percentage. They just shot better than us. I think we both played really strong defense. Their offense was just better tonight,” Lumberjacks’ head coach Brian Bennett said.

With just eight players on the Lumberjacks roster, the team’s lack of depth — in comparison to Chateaugay, which had 13 players — was one of the main factors for the team’s sluggish play in the late stage of Monday’s contest.

“It comes all the way down to practice, where (Chateaugay) can incorporate more of that to five-on-five real practices, where we can’t,” Bennett said. “I think that is something that is not in the stat book that played a huge part.”

Tupper Lake’s Lorenzo Galloni attempts a wide-open layup during Monday’s game against Chateaugay. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

Chateaugay’s Jacob Johnston, who scored just two points in the first half, played a big role in the Bulldogs’ second-half surge. Johnston scored 18 of the team’s 30 second-half points, which included three three-pointers.

Owen Rockhill had a standout performance for Chateaugay, scoring 13 points, while his teammate Brandon Leonard chipped in nine points.

Tom Peterson led Tupper Lake in scoring with 11 points, which included one three-pointer. Michael Corneau scored seven points, while Tyler LaPlante and Keegan Dattoma had six points each. The Lumberjacks’ Wyatt Godin and Lorenzo Galloni chipped in two points each.

Monday’s loss marked the first of the year for Tupper Lake. The team previously won the John Dinneen Memorial Tournament last week.

While the team dropped to 2-1 overall, Bennett said he was glad to see his team compete against a high-caliber team like the Bulldogs.

“(Chateaugay) is probably the best team in the section,” Bennett said. “They’re most likely going to go very far in the state playoffs. It’s good to compete with them.”

The Lumberjacks will hit the road for its next matchup against the Brushton-Moira Panthers on Thursday at 7:15 p.m.

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Chateaugay 47, Tupper Lake 34

Bulldogs 12 5 15 15 — 47

Lumberjacks 9 8 9 8 — 34

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Chateaugay (47)

Martin 1-2-4, Leonard 4-1-9, Beaudin 0-1-1, Nemier 0-0-0, Dustin 0-0-0, Rockhill 5-2-13, Leary 0-0-0, Boyea 0-0-0, Staves 0-0-0, Johnston 8-1-20, Reynolds 0-0-0, Bechard 0-0-0. Totals: 18-7-47

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Tupper Lake (34)

Galloni 1-0-2, Godin 1-0-2, Peterson 3-4-11, Dattoma 3-0-6, LaPlante 3-0-6, Corneau 3-0-7, Methot 0-0-0. Totals: 14-4-34.

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Three-point goals: Chateaugay (4) Johnston 4, Rockhill. Tupper Lake (2) Peterson, Corneau.

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