Chatsworth’s Girls Bounce Their Way Past El Camino Real

During a pregame cheer Wednesday, members of the Chatsworth High girls’ basketball team gathered in a tight circle and bounced up and down, their arms slung over each others’ shoulders.

The Chancellors had more reason to jump and exchange hugs after they defeated El Camino Real, 53-43, in a key West Valley League matchup at Chatsworth.

The victory broke a first-place tie between Chatsworth and El Camino Real, giving the Chancellors (14-4, 5-0) a one-game lead on the Conquistadores (13-6, 4-1) in the race for the title.

The win also snapped El Camino Real’s 14-game winning streak in league play, a string that included a 10-0 mark last season when the Conquistadores won the league title.

El Camino Real was 22-5 last year while an improving Chatsworth was 16-12 and settled for third in league with a 5-5 mark.

But Chatsworth is enjoying its best season since 1995-96, when it went 20-7 and won the North Valley League with a 9-1 record.

The victory over El Camino Real, the No. 9-ranked team in The Times’ regional poll, made it even better.

“We wanted this so much,” said Chatsworth sophomore swing player Liz Sun, who had team-highs of 22 points and nine rebounds.

El Camino Real was left wanting because of poor shooting. The taller Conquistadores outrebounded Chatsworth, 35-24, but they made just 17 of 51 shots (33.3%), with many of the misses coming from underneath the basket.

Chatsworth made 19 of 45 (42.2% percent) shots. Sun scored 15 of her points in the first half.

The Chancellors took their biggest lead, 38-24, without much help from Sun, using an 8-0 run early in the third quarter.

“We have only ourselves to blame,” El Camino Real Coach Lori Chandler said. “We had opportunity after opportunity inside. If we connected on half of the layups that we missed, we win. It was disappointing because I felt like we did everything else right.”

Chatsworth was right to focus on shutting down El Camino Real junior guard Christina Aguinaga, who entered the game averaging 20.2 points per game. She was limited to nine by the Chancellors’ Michelle Cannon.

“I focused on my defense,” Cannon said. “We knew we wanted to stop her. We were ready for it.”