It's a Basketball Town as Chatsworth, Sierra Canyon Prepare for State Playoffs

First football, now basketball, only this time the basketball teams at Chatsworth and Sierra Canyon have one-upped the football teams.

The only two high schools in Chatsworth, it was rare enough that both made it to the football finals in their respective divisions, as Chatsworth lost in the City Section, and Sierra Canyon lost in the Southern Section.

The boys’ basketball teams got there again this past weekend, and both won, as Chatsworth defeated Garfield 66-61 in the City Division III championship, and Sierra Canyon knocked off Montclair Prep 48-45 in overtime in the Div. V-A title game.

And now the road continues.

Both have qualified for the CIF State tournament. Chatsworth opens against visiting Palm Springs (25-2) in Div. III, and Sierra Canyon, awarded a first-round bye in Div. V, plays at home Thursday against the Fresno Christian-Bishop Diego winner.

Chatsworth is coming off an emotional high after winning its first City title in the school’s 48-year history, and now the Chancellors are an underdog forced to make a 280-mile roundtrip.

“It’s tough to win the City title, then do this two days later,” Chatsworth coach Scott Switella said. “That’s a tough thing to do. Palm Springs is a pretty good that’s lost just two times. They’re hosting a state-playoff, so that’s a pretty big deal.”

Derrick Hector scored 26 points for Chatsworth on Saturday in the win over Garfield.

“It was fun. I enjoyed it,” Hector said. “We played as a team and won the City championship. It feels great to be the first ones to win one at Chatsworth, so now we’re moving on to State, and we want to win that, too.”

For Chatsworth to succeed, the Chancellors will need more big performances from Hector, Jason Monje, Terrell Funches and their other key players.

“I think we can keep winning if we keep playing hard and keep playing as a team,” Hector said. “If we do that, we should have a strong chance to win. A lot of us have been playing together for five or six years, growing up together and playing travel ball together.”

The win over Garfield has Chatsworth ready for anything.

“It was a tough environment because Garfield has tons of enthusiastic fans, and we had a good crowd, too,” Switalla said. “We found a way.”

Like Chatsworth, Sierra Canyon is coming off its first section championship. The Trailblazers are the top seed in Division V, and that means they figure to have a good chance to make it to the State Finals on March 25 at Arco Arena in Sacramento.

“We’re had some huge wins this season,” first-year coach Ryan Silver said. “I couldn’t have scripted it any better. I remember we lost by 30 to Crespi early in the season, and I had never lost a game like that. It turned out to be a huge turning point in the season. We’ve had some big wins. We beat The Bishops by 31 points, and they’re a CIF champion. That was huge. We’ve beat Pacific Hills, Windward, Montclair Prep, Flintridge Prep.”

Leading scorer Jahmel Taylor, a sophomore, is among several key youngsters that include starting freshmen Marsalis Johnson and Bryan Alberts.

“I believe if we play as a team, we’ll do just fine,” Taylor said. “We’ve got a great team with great talent, and we understand the game well and we understand our roles. We’re constantly looking out for each other. I believe we can do it.”