This West Valley Contest Needs No Shot Clock

There won’t be any need for a 35-second shot clock Wednesday afternoon when Taft High (13-4, 2-0 in league) takes on Chatsworth (11-6, 2-0) in a showdown for first place in the West Valley League in Woodland Hills.

“I think this could be a shootout,” Taft Coach Derrick Taylor said.

Chatsworth has point guard Shayne Berry, who averages 29.5 points. Taft has Steve Smith and Mustafa Asghari, who are averaging 25.1 and 19.8, respectively.

The two teams met in early December in the Simi Valley tournament, with Chatsworth winning, 80-70. But Taft wasn’t at full strength and Smith had just joined the team after a long football season.

Chatsworth can score points in bunches. The Chancellors defeated Granada Hills, 95-93, last week despite shooting 38%.

Cecil Brown of Canoga Park, the City Section’s leading scorer with a 32.5 average and a former Taft player, said he would have a hard time picking a Taft-Chatsworth winner.

“I’m not getting involved,” he said. “I’ve got too many friends that go to both schools.”

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Cleveland (1-13), off to its worst start in school history, is expected to receive a boost this week with the return of Derrick Lambey, who has been sidelined since spraining an ankle last month in the opening game of the Hart tournament.

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Scott Borchart, Chaminade’s 6-foot-9 center, was held out of last Friday’s game against Harvard-Westlake so he could rest a sprained ankle.