Huskies Pass Chatsworth at the Finish

NORTH HOLLYWOOD —  Dominic Johnson of North Hollywood High made the right decision Friday night.

Teammate Gus Ruiz proved it by swishing a baseline jumper on an assist from Johnson with three seconds remaining to beat Chatsworth, 50-48, in a nonleague game at North Hollywood.

Coach Rob Bloom of North Hollywood looked into Johnson’s eyes during a timeout and asked, “Can you take [Lee Cration of Chatsworth] off the dribble?”

“Absolutely,” was the reply.

Johnson made Bloom look like a genius.

He killed several seconds at the top of the lane, penetrated past Cration into the key before whipping a pass to Ruiz, who made the jumper just inside the three-point line.

“We wanted Dominic to make the decision,” Bloom said. “It was his decision to make, but I told him I didn’t want him to shoot or pass with more than four seconds left.”

North Hollywood (12-3), which suffered an embarrassing loss to Taft a week ago, overcame a dismal start to beat the streaky Chancellors. The Huskies made only two of 13 shots in the first quarter and fell behind, 13-5.

“This is the first time we started out poorly and finished strong,” Bloom said.

Chatsworth (6-8), which outrebounded North Hollywood, 21-11, in the first half, got sloppy in the second quarter and suffered seven turnovers, four for traveling.

“That’s a tendency of ours,” Coach Emad Whitney of Chatsworth said. “We’re like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. We’re great for a few minutes and then it disappears.”

North Hollywood scratched its way to within 19-15 at halftime, then came out of the locker room with hot hands. The Huskies made their first four shots of the third quarter and took a 25-19 lead.

The Huskies maintained the lead until a three-point play by Cration, who had 15 points, gave the Chancellors a 41-38 lead with 5:01 left.

The final minutes featured three ties in the last 2:26.

Chatsworth trailed, 46-44, with 2:03 left before converting four of six free throws to take a 48-46 lead.

Two free throws by Kenny Hauser of North Hollywood tied it, 48-48, with 50 seconds left.

Ronald Ruffin, the only returning starter, had nine points and seemed hesitant to take control of the Chancellor offense.

“He’s trying to play within the team concept,” Whitney said. “I would like him to take it upon himself in some situations, but he is very into the team play.”

Hauser scored 11 points, well below his average of 20. He made two of nine shots in the second half.