Chatsworth boys basketball thwarted by Jesuit in bid for CIF State Division II title

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Maison Phillips #5 of Jesuit Marauders drives to the basket into Alijah Arenas #0 of Chatsworth Chancellors in the first half of a boys CIF State Division II championship basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Photo by Libby Cline-Birmingham, Contributing Photographer)

SACRAMENTO – Chatsworth’s quest for a CIF State boys basketball championship was stopped by an opponent that did everything well Saturday.

Jesuit of Carmichael moved the ball so well offensively that four of its players scored in double figures. The Marauders were 14 of 16 at the free-throw line and made eight 3-pointers. Jesuit committed only four turnovers, and its zone defense was active and outstanding.

All of that was too much for Chatsworth to overcome, as the Chancellors lost 66-53 in the CIF State Division II championship game at Golden 1 Center.

Salomon Torres #23 of Chatsworth Chancellors looks up toward the scoreboard as the Jesuit Marauders celebrate after defeating the Chatsworth Chancellors 66-53 to win a boys CIF State Division II championship basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/ SCNG)

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The Chancellors’ highlight was seeing senior Alijah Arenas became the first CIF LA City Section boys basketball player to reach 3,000 career points. The 6-6 guard, who has signed with USC and is the son of former NBA star Gilbert Arenas, scored 22 points to finish his high school career with 3,002 points. He is a young senior, too, having reclassified from a junior to a senior this school year.

Chatsworth, which lost to Westchester in the City Section Open Division championship game and then defeated Westchester in a CIF Southern California Regional final, finished the season 26-9. The Chancellors advanced to a state final for the second year in a row; they lost in the state Division IV final last season.

Arenas, a McDonald’s All-American, was the focal point of the Jesuit’s 2-1-2 zone defense. Any time Arenas got the ball inside of 25 feet, two or three Marauders would collapse on him.

Although Arenas is a fine passer when double- or triple-teamed, he was the only Chatsworth player to score in double figures. Arenas was 8 for 21 from the field including 1 of 7 on 3-point shots. He had four assists and seven rebounds.

Chatsworth coach Sam Harris was emotional about the loss. In his postgame press conference, he struggled to start his opening remarks.

“This is tough,” Harris said. “This is a special group right here. We just couldn’t knock down enough shots.”

He was proud that the Chancellors are a homegrown team.

“We took neighborhood kids to back-to-back state finals,” Harris said.

Arenas was disappointed that Chatsworth could not return to Southern California with a CIF State championship trophy.

“The moral of this story was just effort,” Arenas said. “They (the Marauders) had more heart. I feel like we should have stuck together a little bit more.”

Chatsworth 6-8 senior Taj Unuakhalu scored nine points and had a game-high 10 rebounds.

Jesuit (27-9) won its first CIF State boys basketball championship.

Marauders 6-3 freshman guard Maison Phillips scored 19 points including three 3-pointers and was 4 for 4 at the free throw line. Amaury McKinney scored 13 points and Luke Browne and Asher Schroeder scored 12 each for Jesuit.

Taj Unuakhalu #21 of Chatsworth Chancellors drives to the basket against Jack Walker #12 of Jesuit Marauders in the first half of a boys CIF State Division II championship basketball game at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/ SCNG)

Chatsworth had a 13-9 lead at the end of the first quarter in which Arenas had five points.

Jesuit went on a 10-2 run to take a 19-15 lead three minutes into the second quarter. The Marauders, who scored eight points off of turnovers in the first half, carried a 29-25 advantage into halftime. Arenas had 11 first-half points.

Jesuit’s lead was seven points twice in the third quarter. V’Elijah Miller of Chatsworth made a 3-pointer to beat the end-of-quarter buzzer to knock the Chancellors’ deficit to three points, 43-40, going into the fourth quarter.

Browne made a 3 to start the final quarter in which Jesuit outscored Chatsworth 23-13. The Marauders played in those final eight minutes like they did in the previous 24 minutes, sharing the ball on offense while never faltering on defense.

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Chatsworth boys basketball thwarted by Jesuit in bid for CIF State Division II title

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