A week after surviving a close 67-64 victory over Rancho Dominguez, the Chatsworth Chancellors faced another close contest Friday night at Birmingham High School in the CIF L.A. City Division 1 Semifinals against the Venice Gondoliers. The game was tied 46-46 apiece when Chatsworth junior guard Aarsh Singh had a chance to win the game with a left side corner 3-point attempt, but couldn’t convert it as the game went into overtime. The two teams traded baskets throughout the overtime period to a 51–51 stalemate in the final minute. As the clock continued to tick, Chatsworth moved the ball around to set up Singh for a game-winning score underneath the basket to send Chatsworth to their second consecutive city championship game in the 53-51 triumph. 

The Chancellors went into Friday night’s Semifinals matchup having already defeated the Gondoliers 64-55 in the Marquez Invitational on January 8th. The previous matchup was a distant memory following the opening tip-off, as both teams showed signs of nerves through their sloppiness with the ball with neither team scoring in the first two minutes of the game. Venice got on the board with a three-pointer from senior guard Canaan Rodriguez while his team attacked the basket on the offensive end. 

The game remained a defensive struggle in the first quarter with Chatsworth being disruptive in the passing lanes and forcing two jump balls in the period. However, Venice ended the quarter with a 12-6 lead through their opportunities at the foul line from playing through contact. As the game moved into the second quarter, the Gondoliers held an 8-point lead early in the period before Chatsworth began to catch fire from behind the arc with junior guard and team captain Aaron Krueger draining three first half triples. 

Chatsworth began to push the ball up the floor with tempo while still maintaining their defensive intensity through their ball pressure. Their increase in pace led to opportunities at the foul line, yet Chatsworth only converted 3 of 7 free throw attempts.  Despite their efforts, the Chancellors were still unable to keep Venice away from the charity stripe themselves, as the Gondoliers made 5 of 7 free throw tries to take a 23-18 lead at the halftime intermission. 

The second half began with a three-point barrage from Chatsworth led by Krueger, knocking down three triples in the third quarter. “I like the fact that they trusted him and kept going to him.”, said Chatsworth head coach Sam Harris in the postgame interview. The Chancellors smothered Venice on the defensive end, forcing turnovers that created transition opportunities for their offense. 

Chatsworth took their first lead of the contest at 27-24 before Venice tied the game midway through the third quarter. Following Krueger’s third 3-point make, more bad news awaited the Gondoliers as he was fouled on his next three-point attempt. Venice head coach David Galley was livid on the sidelines, earning a technical foul which added two additional free throws for Krueger. He successfully made all five foul shots adding to his 14 third quarter points, as he extended the Chatsworth lead to ten. Krueger finished with 25 points in the game

Venice closed the gap with a 5-0 spurt to end the third quarter, including a buzzer-beater from Rodriguez to cut the lead to 40-33. His basket provided the spark the Gondoliers needed, as they went on a 9-2 run. He tied the game at 42-42 with an emphatic alley-oop layup with 3:14 remaining in the game. 

Krueger was suffocated on the offensive end by a stout Venice 1-3-1 defensive scheme. Venice forced the ball out of his hands with neither team scoring for the next minute of the game. With under two minutes remaining, Singh converted a putback after this first attempt was blocked to give Chatsworth a 44-42 advantage with 1:36 left to play. Galley called a timeout to regroup, putting the ball into the hands of Venice senior point guard Aiden Charron. He successfully converted a drive to the basket, in addition to drawing a foul from the Chancellors. 

Charron made a costly miss on his free throw attempt and the game remained tied at 44-44. With under a minute remaining in the contest, Chatsworth senior and team captain Salvance Torres took advantage of a second chance opportunity with a putback layup to give Chatsworth a two-point lead. Venice senior point guard Ajonn Mitchell was fouled with 25.4 left in the game, where he made both free throws to tie the game at 46-46. 

Harris called a timeout to set up the game-winning play, but Singh was unable to convert his aforementioned three-point try. Tired legs were on display early in the overtime period with both teams struggling to score in the first two minutes. Singh made the first bucket of the quarter before Mitchell responded with a basket of his own to tie the game at 48-48. 

Venice called a timeout with 2:24 remaining in overtime, setting up Mitchell to convert a floater to give the Gondoliers a 50-48 advantage. The time continued to move as Chatsworth senior point guard and team captain Chris Rutherford drove to the paint to earn a clutch basket while drawing a foul. He successfully converted the free throw attempt to give the Chancellors a 51-50 lead with 1:25 left to play. 

Mitchell continued to attack the rim, once again drawing another foul where he converted one of two free throws to tie the game at 51-51 apiece. The Chancellors were called for a traveling violation with 53 seconds left in the game giving Venice the ball at a critical juncture. Venice junior point guard Chase Charron was provided a chance to win the game for the Gondoliers with under 30 seconds left in the game. 

Harris decided not to call a timeout, trusting his team to set up the game winning possession. With their season on the line and the clock moving under the 10 second mark, the Chancellors were patient enough to move the ball around to set up a bounce pass from Rutherford for the game-winning layup with 0.1 left on the clock. 

Galley called a timeout while the referees put 1.8 seconds back on the clock for one last half court heave from Venice. Mitchell couldn’t convert the last gasp half court attempt from the Gondoliers, as Chatsworth celebrated a trip to the CIF D1 Championship Game. After graduating fourteen seniors from last season, including current USC standout Alijah Arenas, the title game on Friday night against league rival Granada Hills presents an opportunity to silence the critics. Harris is looking forward to the challenge, “It’s a new group. I know a lot of people counted us out, but we’ve got one more game.”