3rd-Quarter Run Lifts Cleveland Past Chatsworth

It was a knee-jerk reaction.

Or, more literally, a backhanded toss.

Chatsworth High basketball Coach Gary Shair, miffed at his team’s third-quarter stumble Wednesday, tossed away his ever-present clipboard after the Chancellors tossed away the ball.

Chatsworth already had chalked up a traveling call. A lane violation. A turnover on an inbounds pass. The clipboard was in the air as much as the ball.

“I was going to break it in half,” Shair said. “It’s already cracked. But I decided to save it for the rest of the season.”

Despite a rally in which Chatsworth cut the deficit to three points in the fourth quarter, host Cleveland ultimately gave the Chancellors the heave-ho, 66-61, in a Northwest Valley Conference game.

The Chancellors (4-9, 1-3 in league play) trailed, 37-34, at halftime and Shair had visions of an upset--he estimates that Chatsworth has not beaten Cleveland since 1982.

Cleveland (13-5, 4-0), however, cranked up its trapping defense and went on a 13-0 tear to open the quarter. Chatsworth committed 10 turnovers and missed its first seven shots to fall behind, 50-34.

“They put the pressure on us and we choked,” Shair said. “We stunk up the place in the third quarter.”

Poised to render the knockout punch, Cleveland instead took a header. Chatsworth outscored Cleveland, 8-2, over the final minutes of the quarter and trailed, 54-44, entering the fourth quarter.

The display prompted Cleveland Coach Kevin Crider to ask during a timeout, “Do you guys know what the hell is going on?”

Nobody volunteered an answer.

Chatsworth outscored Cleveland, 12-6, over the first 2 minutes 20 seconds of the quarter to move to within 60-56. Junior swingman Brandon Martin--who finished with a game-high 32 points on 12-of-18 shooting and made eight of nine free throws--scored all six of the Cavaliers’ points to stave off an embarrassment.

“The mental aspect is more important than the physical part,” Martin said of Cleveland’s troubles. “Sometimes you can’t just get by on athletic ability.”

J. P. Labrador (15 points) scored on a 10-foot jump shot with 2:17 left to cut the Cleveland lead to 62-58. Martin then missed inside, but Chatsworth’s Chan Manor missed a five-foot shot in the lane with 1:25 to play.

Martin grabbed the rebound, but point guard Kenny Collins turned the ball over as the Cavaliers tried to spread the floor and stall. Off-guard Christen Dunbar (17 points) was fouled by Martin with 51 seconds left and made one of two free throws to cut the lead to 62-59.

Cleveland again tried the spread offense and this time Collins found Shawn Bankhead underneath for an easy layin with 30 seconds left to give Cleveland a 64-59 lead.

Crider conceded that Cleveland seems to be jogging in place. One step forward, one step back. Even after 18 games, some players still seem reluctant to accept the new coach’s system.

“Right now, we’re at a point where we have to decide whether we’re going to be a good team or not,” Crider said. “We’re at a point where we have to either accept (the system) or not.

“If they do, we’ll be a good team that could have a shot at the City title. If not, we’ll just be a better-than-average team from the Valley.”