Berry Supplies Juice for Chatsworth’s Victory

AGOURA HILLS — Drive to the basket.

Penetrate and dish off.

Consistently hit outside jumpers, including those from beyond the three-point arc.

In short, be an unstoppable offensive force.

Shayne Berry of Chatsworth High says he has to have that kind of attitude in order to excel on the basketball court and it helped him to 20 points in the Chancellors’ 62-49 victory over Royal in the championship game of the Ventura County Coaches’ Assn. tournament at Agoura High on Saturday night.

Berry, a 5-foot-8, 170-pound point guard who started for Taft last year before moving into the Chatsworth attendance district, made all eight of his shots and three of five free throws.

“I feel like nobody can stop me,” Berry said. “I’m not trying to sound cocky or anything, but that’s how I have to feel in order to play well.”

Royal, which got 20 points from Adam Segal, did nothing to thwart Berry’s confidence in the first half, when he scored 16 points while making all six of his shots and three of four free throws.

“We knew we had that advantage,” co-coach Kevin Taylor of Chatsworth said of the Chancellors’ quickness. “But we also knew that they were well-coached and would play disciplined basketball.”

Chatsworth, which was 15-7 and second to Cleveland in the West Valley League last season, led, 31-27, at halftime and scored the first 10 points of the second half to take a 41-27 lead with 16:45 left in the game that consisted of 20-minute halves and a running clock.

Scott Johnston, who scored all six of his points in the second half, hit a 12-foot jumper in the lane to start the run and Ronald Ruffin capped it with a basket inside.

Royal, led by Segal’s five points, countered with a 9-2 run to close its deficit to 43-36 with 13:25 to play. But Chatsworth scored six of the next seven points to take a 49-37 lead with 10:30 left.

“We felt like we had something to prove,” Berry said. “We felt like people were looking at us like we were a team with a lot of good athletes, but that we had no perception of how to play the game.”

Bobby Bowlin scored 12 points for Chatsworth, which defeated Agoura, 57-44, in a semifinal earlier in the day, and Ruffin had 11.

D.J. Simonton scored 14 points for Royal and Christian Ronquillo had 10 for the Highlanders, who beat Newbury Park, 68-58, in the semifinals.

Agoura 59, Newbury Park 53--The Chargers trailed, 41-32, midway through the second half but won the third-place game after a 21-5 run.

Adam Sacks had 15 points and Adam Allegro scored 13 for the Chargers.