CHATSWORTH GIRLS LOSE TITLE GAME\DORSEY 47, CHATSWORTH 45.

Byline: Gary Washburn Daily News Staff Writer

In the beginning, free throws were a luxury. Making them could have made a 10-point Chatsworth High School lead bigger.

But in the end, Chatsworth's inability to hit those uncontested 15-footers helped Dorsey back into the game and then cost it a City Section 3-A girls' championship.

The Chancellors missed four free throws in the final minute which could have given them the lead, and Dorsey escaped with a 47-45 victory Friday night at Cal State Los Angeles. It was Chatsworth's second consecutive 3-A title-game defeat.

The final minute was filled with missed opportunities. Parisa Plant missed two free throws with Chatsworth behind 46-45 with 37 seconds left, then Nancy Vincent missed a putback.

Next, after Dorsey's Janice Thomas made it 47-45 with a free throw, the Dons missed four straight foul shots, but Chatsworth's Grace Lui stepped on the midcourt line, causing a backcourt violation with 10 seconds left. Finally, Plant's desperation 3-pointer missed at the buzzer.

"This is so frustrating because this is a game we should have won," Chatsworth coach Emad Whitney said. "I don't think it was nerves, I just think some kids weren't all the way confident."

Chatsworth (20-7) held the lead a majority of the game, including a 31-20 lead two minutes into the third quarter. But Dorsey applied a tenacious fullcourt press, causing 31 Chatsworth turnovers. Vincent, who owned the glass in the first half, didn't get the opportunity to dominate the inside in the second half.

She finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds but didn't score in the last three minutes. Forward Tynitra Wilson scored just five points on 2-of-8 shooting and besides Vincent, the entire team made just 6 of 21 free throws.

"This hurts so much because I'm a senior," Vincent said. "I'll never have a chance to do this again."

Thomas, a 6-foot junior, was aggressive on the boards, collecting 20 and scored several putback baskets after bad Dorsey misses.

"We believed we could come back," Thomas said. "Coach told us to take care of the ball and play smart."

But No. 1-seeded Dorsey was ripe for the upset. It missed 46 of 64 shots from the field and 19 of 29 free throws. But the Dons (20-8) converted some key turnovers into layups late in the game while Chatsworth went the final 4:20 without a field goal.

"We expected them to press and it caused us some real problems," Whitney said. "We made some mistakes, but this is a game we could have won."

The strategy was obvious at the outset for Chatsworth. It wanted to slow the ball down, get it to Vincent and avoid the up-and-down tempo that occurred in the 16-point loss to Dorsey in December.

It worked in the first half as Chatsworth built a 10-point lead. But Chatsworth was unable to hit key free throws, missing 14 of 22 in the first half.

Vincent ended up with 10 points in the first half and drew several fouls on Dorsey's post players.

A 3-pointer by Jodi Borenstein made it 23-13 and Chatsworth had a chance to increase that lead. But the chance disappeared when a turnover led to a Thomas hoop at the buzzer, drawing Dorsey to within seven, 27-20.

Pilgrim 41, Cornerstone Christian 39: The top-seeded Eagles fell to the Patriots in the Division V-A girls' championship game at the Pyramid in Long Beach.

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO

(color) Dorsey's Janice Thomas, left, fights fiercely for a rebound with Chatsworth's Parisa Plant. Shaun Dyer / Special to the Daily News