Chenen’s 3-Point Play Lifts El Camino Real

There El Camino Real High forward Allen Chenen stood Friday night, toeing the free-throw line in the Taft gym with two seconds left in a tie game against his school’s archrival.

These neighborhood and Northwest Valley Conference foes had overcome some early sloppiness to play a taut fourth quarter. And now it was up to Chenen, who had just converted a clutch, off-balance bank shot to tie the score and then was fouled by Taft’s Cornell Hill on the play.

“My heart was in my feet,” Chenen said after the game.

But who needs a heart to sink a game-winning free throw? Not Chenen, whose offering hit nothing but net to complete the three-point play and give El Camino Real a 54-53 win.

The finish caused El Camino Real Coach Mike McNulty to leap high into the air, a rare display of emotion from the usually reserved coach.

Just 30 seconds before Chenen’s game-winning play, Taft sophomore Casey Sheahan, who scored a team-high 16 points, had drilled a three-point shot, his fourth of the game, to give Taft a 53-51 lead, its first since a 6-4 advantage early in the first quarter.

Sheahan’s shot capped a Toreador comeback in which Taft outscore El Camino Real, 10-1, in the final four minutes.

Taft (12-5, 2-1 in conference play) hurt itself in the first half, making just nine of 28 shots and committing numerous turnovers.

El Camino Real (5-7, 2-1), meanwhile, wasn’t exactly on top of its game despite Todd Orlando’s game-high 17 points.

The Conquistadores made just 11 of 27 first-half shots but led, 24-20, at halftime.

The Conquistadores built the lead to nine at 35-26 before Taft mounted its run.

But that run fell just short, courtesy of Chenen, who hit the winning layup last week in a two-point win over Granada Hills.

So this stuff is old hat to you, now, eh, Allen?

He smiled shyly. “Yeah, it’s getting pretty old.”