Thomas Sets the Pace as Taft Tops Chatsworth for 8th Win in a Row

Taft High won its eighth consecutive boys’ basketball game Friday night but the Toreadors more closely resembled a plow horse than a racehorse. After Taft plodded past Chatsworth, 50-37, in a Northwest Valley Conference contest, Taft Coach Jim Woodard was almost apologetic.

“What did I tell you,” Woodard said. “We won ugly. There’s no other way to put it. We play an ugly brand of basketball. We just don’t have the quickness or team speed like last year.”

With 3 starters--including three-time state sprint champion Quincy Watts--lost to graduation, the Toreadors are no longer an attacking offensive team with a stable of thoroughbreds. Rather, Taft frequently walks the ball up the court before employing a set offense.

Taft (13-1, 3-0 in league play) does, however, possess one of the premier point guards in the City Section: senior Dedan Thomas.

“He’s sensational,” Woodard said. “He can do it all.”

Thomas, who had 20 points, 8 assists and 5 steals, nearly did it all for Taft in the first quarter, hitting all 4 of his shots as the Toreadors took a 10-9 lead.

Taft scored the first 7 points of the second half to take command of the game. A basket by Jason Deyoe (10 points, 11 rebounds) gave Taft a 32-21 lead with 4:05 left in the third period.

“I’d like to think it was our defense that caused their bad shooting,” Woodard said. “Whatever it was, they didn’t score many points in the third quarter.”

The Chancellors scored a paltry 4 points in the period, hitting 1 of 7 field-goal attempts. They converted only 25% (11 of 44) of their shots in the game.

Meanwhile, Taft was feeling fine.

“I felt pretty good tonight,” said Thomas, who has signed a letter of intent with Nevada Las Vegas. “I think we played well. We seem to be getting better with each game.”

Chatsworth (8-6, 0-3) took a 12-10 lead early in the second quarter, but Taft countered with a pair of Tony Middleton free throws, a 3-point shot by Brooklyn McLinn from the right corner and a layup by Thomas off a rare fast break to take a 17-12 advantage with 5:30 left in the first half.

Thomas hit another basket and assisted on 3 others before the half ended with the Toreadors holding a 25-21 lead. Rick Garrick continued to struggle for Chatsworth, scoring 6 points on 2-of-15 shooting. Dominic DeSantis added 14 points.