Coaches Andre Chevalier and Derrick Taylor face off like old times

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CHATSWORTH — It was a time all of the San Fernando Valley remembers, when Jordan Farmar was at Taft and Nick Young was at Cleveland in 2004. The battles were epic.

Andre Chevalier was the boys basketball coach at Cleveland, and his son, Andre Chevalier II, was just four years old.

“I was little, but I remember the first game being at Pauley Pavilion and we lost,” Chevalier II said.

Taft’s coach was Derrick Taylor. He remembers, too.

“It was the craziest ending to a game I’ve ever seen,” Taylor said. “We pretty much won the game on a 5-second count. Then Jordan Farmar made free throws. Game over.”

Things were different the second time around.

“The game was at Cleveland and the gym was packed. I remember the team coming out to the the song ‘The Big Payback’ by James Brown and we won,” Chevalier II said laughing.

Old friends. Old rivals. Sierra Canyon’s Andre Chevalier and Taft’s Derrick Taylor. The battles between Chevalier and Taylor when it was Cleveland and Taft were epic. Nick Young vs. Jordan Farmar. pic.twitter.com/FpJ4SGRyGb

— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) March 1, 2023

Those were the good old days. That was almost 20 years ago and everything has changed — well, not everything.

Taylor is still the coach at Taft, but Chevalier is now the coach at Sierra Canyon. The two clashed in reunion of old rivals in the CIF State Division I playoffs Tuesday night where the Trailblazers topped Taft 84-47 to advance to the second round where they’ll host Etiwanda Thursday night at 7 p.m.

“The landscape has changed,” Taylor said. “We used to be like (Sierra Canyon). I have a lot of respect to Andre. There’s a lot of pressure, and that’s a lot to manage behind the scenes.”

It was standing-room only Tuesday night as Taft got off to a hot start, but Sierra Canyon was too much for the Toreadors to handle, using a 16-6 run in the third quarter to create a comfortable 42-26 lead.  Bronny James, who finished with 13 points, delivered an old-fashioned three-point play before the third quarter buzzer to make it 69-40.

Taft finishes 21-11 and the City Open Division champions, giving Taylor his fourth City Section title.

“Derrick is a San Fernando Valley basketball legend,” Andre Chevalier said of Taylor. “He was winning City titles when it was hard to do.”

Jimmy Oladokun led Sierra Canyon with 16 points, Ashton Hardway added 15 and Bronny James scored 13. Keyon Kensie and Bishop Brooks each had 14 for Taft.

Bronny James and-1 before the third quarter buzzer. Sierra Canyon leads Taft 69-40. Opening round of the Division I CIF State playoffs. pic.twitter.com/Cy1lAy5eSC

— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) March 1, 2023

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