Chatsworth Catches Late Bus and Rolls Past Franklin, 61-41

The team bus was nowhere to be seen.

Five minutes passed. Ten. Fifteen.

Anxious to play, members of the Chatsworth High girls’ basketball team were ready to drive their own cars to Pierce College.

Unfortunately for Franklin, the bus arrived at Chatsworth and took the Chancellors to Pierce, where they rolled to a 61-41 victory in a City Section 3-A semifinal game Saturday.

Nancy Vincent scored a season-high 24 points and Tynitra Wilson grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds as Chatsworth advanced to the championship game against top-seeded Dorsey on Friday at 6 p.m. at Cal State Los Angeles.

Vincent, who had 11 rebounds, and Wilson, who scored 17 points, were unstoppable in the post.

“That was the major difference for us,” said Emad Whitney, Chatsworth’s coach.

And a major headache for third-seeded Franklin (19-5), which lost to Chatsworth in the semifinals for the second year in a row.

Second-seeded Chatsworth (21-6) scored its first 12 points from close range, six of them from Vincent, and didn’t let up.

The Chancellors, who are making their second consecutive trip to the 3-A final, were tough defensively.

Franklin made only 15 of 55 shots (27.2%), including a woeful three of 17 (17.6%) in the second quarter.

Chatsworth led early in the fourth quarter, 47-28, when Janice Arcilla (21 points) and Marie Punzalan (16 points) combined for nine quick points to slice the lead to 48-37.

But Wilson and Vincent went to work, combining for nine points, all from close range.

“If we can get the ball down to them [against Dorsey], we can score and win the ballgame,” said Whitney, whose Chancellors lost to Dorsey by 14 points at the Fairfax tournament in December. “No doubt.”