A Familiar Final for Chatsworth

The Chatsworth High girls’ basketball team is a bridesmaid once again.

The Chancellors, who lost a heartbreaker in the City Section 3-A Division final a year ago, once again fell in the championship game.

This time it was Dorsey that inflicted the pain with a 47-45 victory Friday night in the 3-A final at Cal State Los Angeles.

The numbers seemed all too familiar for Chatsworth. Narbonne scored 47 in its championship victory over the Chancellors last season.

In the game’s closing minutes Friday, Chatsworth (20-7) made just two of six free throws and had two costly turnovers.

“I don’t know what happened,” said Chancellor forward Tynitra Wilson, who had five points and 10 rebounds. “I didn’t play well, I know that.”

Chatsworth failed to score a field goal in the final 4 minutes 20 seconds, but the Chancellors still managed to hang tough even though they committed nine fourth-quarter turnovers.

Panic didn’t set in until Grace Lui turned the ball over with 11 seconds left on a backcourt violation caused by Dorsey’s full-court press.

Still, the Chancellors, who had lost a 27-20 halftime lead, were not finished.

Chatsworth committed two quick fouls and Dorsey missed all four free throws. The Chancellors could have pulled out a miracle finish, but Parisa Plant’s three-point shot missed at the buzzer.

“They really picked up on defense,” Chatsworth Coach Emad Whitney said of Dorsey. “They played intense and did a great job stopping us.”

Dorsey guard MurRae Glenn spearheaded a second-half flurry, scoring five of her 10 points in a 90-second span in the fourth quarter.

Glenn gave the Dons (20-8) the lead at 41-40 when she made a free throw with 3:42 to play.

It was Dorsey’s first lead since early in the second quarter.

The Chancellors struggled at the free-throw line. Chatsworth made 14 of 35 free throws (40%).

Chatsworth tied the score at 43-43 on Wilson’s free throw with 2:39 left, but could not recapture the lead.

After Glenn gave the Dons a 46-43 lead on a breakaway layup, Lui and Jodi Borenstein each made one of two free throws to close to 46-45. But Plant then missed two free throws.

The Chancellors quickly fouled Dorsey center Janice Thomas, who had 17 points and 20 rebounds, and she converted on one of two free throws.

“We may have been a little too relaxed,” Whitney said. “For some reason some people were not totally confident.”

Nancy Vincent scored 15 points and had 14 rebounds for Chatsworth but made only four of 13 field-goal attempts. Borenstein added 10 points.

The Chancellors took a 31-20 lead with 5:35 left in the third quarter, but scored only one point the rest of the quarter.