Westchester boys basketball defeats Chatsworth to claim 16th City Section title

Posted by author March 1, 2025 Basketball

Spread the love

1 of 18

Westchester’s Tajh Ariza drives to the basket against Chatsworth in the L.A. City Section Open Division boys basketball final at Los Angeles Southwest College on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Expand

LOS ANGELES — The Westchester boys basketball team is back on top in the L.A. City Section.

After a long season, with ups and downs, the second-seed Comets, led by Tajh Ariza’s 19 points knocked off top-seed Chatsworth, 65-55 Friday in the L.A. City Section Open Division championship at L.A. Southwest College.

It is the first city title for the Comets since 2020 and their 16th overall.

Ariza transferred from St. Bernard to Westchester, where his father Trevor played and won four city titles. His marathon home is now complete with the city title.

“It’s been long, a lot of bumps in the road, (we) just stuck stuck it out,” Ariza said. “It’s big, Westchester has been out for a little bit, city basketball was a little bit down, but we made sure to bring it back, to Westchester too.”

This is the first title that the Comets have won since the legendary coach Ed Azzam departed and the first under longtime assistant Dewitt Cotton, who replaced him as coach.

The Comets lost in the Open Division final in 2021 and in the Division I final in 2022.

“Like I tell everybody, this one here is for the kids,” Cotton said. “I had a group of kids that had never won a championship.

“We started way back in August, grinding and working. At first they didn’t seem like it would pay off, but I told them to keep fighting. Tough schedule, they bought in, took them a while to figure it out, but they bought in and everything worked itself out.”

As with any season, there is a turning point, Cotton pointed to the team’s effort after their December tournaments.

“We came home and we just took off,” Cotton said. “They bought in to what we wanted to do.”

After losing to Inglewood (Jan. 4), the Comets closed the season, including Friday winning their final 15 games.

Not only did Friday’s marquee read Chatsworth vs. Westchester, but also Ariza vs. Alijah Arenas. The sons of former NBA players looking to forge their path in the game.

Arenas, a USC commit, did his best to keep Chatsworth in the game, scoring 33 points.

Ariza had his full game on display, finishing with 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists. He also received some big contributions from Jordan Ballard (15 points), Gary Ferguson (11), Ty Ingram (nine) and Khaeden Asher Grady (eight).

After a tight first half and slow start to the third, the Comets opened up some separation with a 13-2 run in the third to take a 41-30 lead.