It’s not exactly a basketball axiom, but it’s a good bet that if a team allows an opponent to get more offensive rebounds than its own total of defensive rebounds, it’s likely to be a long night.

Such was the case Friday for Chatsworth High in a 69-56 loss to visiting El Camino Real in a key West Valley League boys game.

“I think we came out real slow, and it killed us because (El Camino Real) was real focused on the game, and we weren’t,” said Chatworth’s Terrell Funches, who led the Chancellors with 21 points and five rebounds.

El Camino Real jumped to an 11-4 advantage and led 17-8 after the first quarter and increased that lead to 39-23 by intermission. The Conquistadors outrebounded Chatsworth 11-4 in the first quarter and 19-7 in the first half.

Temjae Singleton, a 6-foot-7 senior, led El Camino Real with 25 points and 11 rebounds.

“We lost four in a row, so this was a very big game,” Singleton said. “This was a tough game, so we just played hard. We know what we can do. We can beat anybody if we want to.”

Chatsworth (19-7, 3-3) tried to fight back, and after a 14-3 third quarter run, capped by a Funches’ trey, the Chancellors narrowed the deficit to 47-42.

Then, early in the fourth quarter, Derrick Hector (11 points) hit a 3-point shot, and Funches followed with a field goal to whittle the El Camino Real lead to three, 51-48.

Hector’s next basket again made it a three-point game, 53-50.

But it was too little, too late.

El Camino Real (12-10, 3-3) went on a 9-0 run to go ahead 62-50 and was not threatened again.

With the two teams now tied in the standings, uncertainty prevails regarding the playoff picture.

“We still have to win (three of our last) four games to get the second seed,” said El Camino Real’s Julian Richardson, who scored 14 points.

For Chatsworth, which blew a 16-point lead and lost at the buzzer in the first meeting of the two teams, the question may have more to do with the size of its team’s collective heart, and not with the collective wins (the next being the Chancellors’ 20th).

“We just came out completely unfocused, not ready to play, (and) played very selfish in the first half. Just lazy,” Chatsworth coach Scott Switalla said. “Very poor effort by us in the first half. We lost our composure. We just were not focused on what we needed to do. Plain and simple.”

Chatsworth was outrebounded 36-17 for the game. But it was most apparent in the first half, and Switalla was stunned by his team’s first-half showing.

“We just have a bunch of guys that just are unwilling to step forward (and) take responsibility for their own play – which is very disappointing for a team that is very talented, and a bunch of seniors," Switalla said.

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL

Taft - 17 - 22 - 10 - 20 - 69

Chatsworth - 8 - 15 - 20 - 13 - 56

EL CAMINO REAL (69): Haynes 8, Nemit 3, Kamberian 3, Jones 11, Singleton 25, Karalnick 5, Richardson 14.

CHATSWORTH (56): Flores 5, Hernandez 2, Hector 11, Torres 2, Monje 9, Funches 21, Rosales 2, Figueroa 2, Olmos 2.

Records: El Camino Real: 12-10, 3-3; Chatsworth: 19-7, 3-3.