By KALA BOLTON / Staff Writer

CHELSEA — Following a rough loss to Pelham earlier in the day, the Chelsea boys’ basketball team was looking to jump back against the John Carrol Cavaliers Nov. 23 to claim the third-place slot in its Chelsea Thanksgiving Tournament, but the Hornets came up just one point short.

“The response tonight was good,” Chelsea head coach Michael Napp said. “We’re certainly not content with a loss, but it’s good to see us fight a little bit and have a chance at the end.”

After trailing the entire game, the Hornets entered the final stretch in a nine-point deficit, but Chelsea pulled together an impressive fourth-quarter rally for one last shot at a win — literally.

“(John Carroll) turned the ball over some in the fourth quarter,” Napp said. “We also made adjustments I should have made a lot sooner. Their number 25 just absolutely dominated us. He had 32 points and 15 rebounds. We had no answer for him for three quarters, so in the fourth quarter, I put Antwon Williams on him, and he did a fantastic job keeping him off the boards whereas no one else had really been able to do that all night for us.”

After climbing their from behind, the Hornets found themselves one point behind the Cavaliers with just over a minute remaining in play following a bucket from senior Jake Ganus. John Carroll went up 46-41 with 23 seconds remaining, but senior Dantavius Washington laid one in for the Hornets, followed by a 3-pointer from Ganus with just 2.4 seconds on the clock. A John Carroll turnover with 1.5 second remaining gave Chelsea the ball and one last chance, but a Ganus jumped sailed just left of the rim, sealing the 47-46 win for the Cavaliers.

Ganus led the Hornets with 22 points, and Washington added 15 on the night.