Arenas scores 28, Chatsworth beats Westchester

The Westchester boys basketball team knew it had a tall order trying to stop Chatsworth sophomore phenom Alijah Arenas in the first round of the CIF LA City Section Open Division playoffs.

The Comets held Arenas to 16 points in the first three quarters, but in the fourth quarter he scored 12 of Chatsworth's final 15 points to lead the Chancellors

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to a 64-49 win Friday.

Chatsworth will face LACES in the semifinals.

Arenas finished with 28 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and five steals. Taj Unuakhalu had 10 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks for Chatsworth.

“Our game plan was tonight was to go box-and-one on Alijah and try not to let him touch the ball much, but he is very crafty,” Westchester coach DeWitt Cotton said. “He made some nice plays and was tough to stop.

“When you got no size and your best player was trying to play hurt, it's tough. We did a good job until the last part of the game, but they were just too good tonight.”

Fifth-seeded Chatsworth went up 9-0 in the first four minutes of the game.

Courtney Hutchins got the Comets on the board with a 3-pointer with 2:50 left to play in the first quarter. After a Patrick Ramos 3, Westchester was within four at 15-11.

Westchester continued to battle and took its only lead of the night on a David Connery 3-pointer with 5:10 remaining in the half for a 1917 lead. Arenas then started to assert himself, scoring six consecutive points during an 8-1 run for Chatsworth for a 25-20 lead with 2:51 left in the first half.

Before the end of the half, Hutchins stepped up and buried a late 3-pointer to get the Comets to within 28-27.

The third quarter saw Westchester senior Kevin Lemke, who was saddled with three fouls in the first half, start to heat up from long range.

Lemke hit consecutive 3-pointers to pull the Comets within three in the final minute of the third quarter. Later he hit a another, getting the Comets close again at 43-42.

“Their height changed things a lot,” said Lemke, who led the Comets with 11 points. “We had to adapt on defense to make sure we were able to get some rebounds. Offensively, it made it harder to attack the paint.”

With Chatsworth holding a one-point advantage, Arenas took over. He scored on a nice spin move and followed that with a midrange jumper to increase the lead to five.

TJ Phillips hit two 3's and Arenas made two more baskets to push the Chancellors' lead to 61-49 with 1:30 to go.