SACRAMENTO — Alijah Arenas, holding back tears and feeling miserable after missing all seven of his shots in the fourth quarter on Saturday in a 66-53 loss to Carmichael Jesuit in the state Division II championship game, stood in the middle of the court embracing every Chatsworth teammate as their names were read. The emotion and disappointment was visble at Golden 1 Center, and yet he stood his ground in his final high school game that saw him finish with 3,002 career points but back-to-back defeats in state finals.
Later, in the interview room, his coach, Sam Harris, was even more emotional, unable to speak at the beginning. The Chancellors wanted a win so badly after losing in last year’s Division IV final. They had made so much progress, relying on Arenas but getting contributions from others.
Instead, Jesuit, supported by a loud contingent of students from its nearby campus, made eight threes and used its matchup zone defense to leave the Chancellors unable to respond in the fourth quarter after being down 43-40.
“We were happy to be here, but this is tough,” Harris said. “It’s a special group. We didn’t knock down enough shots.”
Arenas finished with 22 points.
“I feel more of the story was effort on both ends,” Arenas said. “They had more heart.”
Freshman Maison Phillips made three threes and finished with 19 points to lead Jesuit to its first state title. Jesuit had lost twice to Crenshaw in the 1990s in state finals.
Headed to USC, Arenas decided to attend Chatsworth despite numerous other opportunities from more publicized schools known for basketball excellence. Through his own perseverance and leadership, he helped the Chancellors make history.
“We took neighborhood kids from Chatsworth to back-to-back state championship games,” Harris said.
The tears Arenas had were because it was tough to say goodbye to his teammates. They had become some of his best friends. He tried his best to deliver a championship, but sometimes it doesn’t work out. That’s why embracing each one for a final time was telling them he would be friends for life. One of those was center Taj Unuakhalu, who had 10 rebounds, nine points and was one of the most improved players.
It was Arenas’ final game putting on a Chatsworth uniform. He leaves quite a legacy, from being the all-time City Section scoring leader to being chosen a McDonald’s All-American.
The next time you’ll see Arenas’ No. 0 jersey will be when it’s framed on the wall of Chatsworth’s gym, because that’s going to happen one day for his many contributions over three seasons of basketball excellence.
