After knocking off two-time defending CIF state Open Division champions and Cal-Hi Sports and national preseason No 1 Etiwanda at the Harvard-Westlake tournament two weeks ago, preseason No. 4 ranked Ontario Christian headed to Texas for the Nike Hoopfest in Texas and came back victorious and looked to remain unbeaten at the Troy Classic in Orange County.
In Texas, the Inland Empire girls had two games against some pretty solid competition. The Lady Knights opened against nationally ranked Duncanville (Texas) and then faced Monterey (Lubbock, Texas) and came home unblemished heading into the Troy Classic where they are favored to meet Mater Dei (Santa Ana) in Saturday’s championship.
The Texas opener saw Ontario Christian blitz a Duncanville team that actually was comically ranked ahead of the Lady Knights in computer rankings but after a 94-51 thrashing it was pretty obvious those rankings are not nearly accurate.
Next came a Monterey team that boasts top senior (2025) recruit Aaliyah Chavez, and she did go for 31 points, but the rest of the team only scored 19 points, and Ontario Christian was a decisive 82-50 winner.
Ontario Christian’s “Big Three” did all the damage. Cal-Hi Sports reigning State Freshman of the Year Kaleena Smith led the way with 29 points (six three-pointers) and eight assists, freshman standout Tatianna Griffin added 21 points and eight rebounds, and freshman phenom Sydney “Bean” Douglas (CLICK HERE for Douglas profile) had a huge double-double 19 points and 19 rebounds.
Triumphant Ontario Christian (6-0) returned home and with just one day rest it headlined the Troy Classic where in its Monday opener overwhelmed Irvine Portola in an 81-35 victory that was 66-19 as head coach Aundre Cummings already began emptying his bench when Ontario Christian led 50-19 at the half.
In limited action, Smith bombed away from outside the arc and was 5-of-9 from 3-point range. She led the way and finished with 21 points, 15 in the first half, seven steals and six assists.
Douglas had her minutes limited but still managed a double-double 15 points and 10 rebounds with three blocks and two steals. Senior forward Alana Neale also had a double-double after finishing with 15 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals. Two other Lady Knights hit double-figure scoring as Griffin had 11 points, eight rebounds, five steals and three assists, and sophomore Dani Robinson chipped in with 10 points, four steals and three assists.
Portola (3-6) got a solid effort from junior Amelia Booth after she finished with 19 points and eight rebounds.
Mater Dei rolls
Mater Dei (Santa Ana) played its first game of the Troy Classic on Tuesday and opened with an M.L. King (Riverside) team coming off a 59-57 upset of preseason state No. 12 Moreno Valley in its Monday opener.
Squaring off against Mater Dei was nothing like facing Moreno Valley and the result was an 80-22 rout by the preseason No. 5 ranked Monarchs.
Standout Kaeli Wynn, a 6-foot-1 junior wing, led Mater Dei with a double-double 24 points and 10 rebounds with six assists and two steals. Wynn showed she can shoot the 3-pointer after draining five from outside the arc. Sophomore Harmony Golightly dropped in four three-pointers and finished with 16 points, two rebounds and two assists, and Iowa commit Addie Deal rounded out the double-figure scorers with 13 points plus six assists, five rebounds and three steals.
Mater Dei opened with an 8-0 run, but King went on a 9-1 run to cut the deficit to 10-9. Shortly thereafter, things started to go sideways for the Wolves, and at times it seemed like there was a lid on the basket.
After Mater Dei reassumed control to take a 19-11 lead near the end of the first quarter, junior Martha Firmo hit a 3-pointer for King to close to 19-14, but that was the last points the Wolves would score for the next 15 minutes and 10 seconds, including the remainder of the first quarter, the entire second quarter and nearly the entire third quarter. During that period of time, Mater Dei went on a 46-0 run. Even after head coach Jody Wynn cleared the bench, the run got to 54-2 before from that point the Monarchs subs had a 7-6 advantage up until the final buzzer.
Firmo led King (5-2) with eight points. Cal State Northridge-bound senior guard Amya Moody, who lit it up against Moreno Valley, added seven points, all in the first quarter. She hurt her left leg, whoever, and was slowed and never tallied again.
Fairmont Prep Routs Shorthanded Troy
Cal-Hi Sports preseason No. 17 Fairmont Prep of Anaheim (5-1) ran into a host Troy team decimated with injuries and came away with an 81-18 victory.
Junior sharpshooter Adyra Rajan led five Huskies girls with 25 points, including five 3-pointers. Senior guard Maria Mejia added 17 points, junior Lesina Afu had 15 points and sophomore Kayla Priest chipped in with 12 points.
Fairmont Prep will now face Irvine Portola on Thursday.
As previously mentioned, there was an upset at the Troy tourney in the first round when King overcame a 25-14 deficit to take charge from that point on, and rode a 16-2 run to post a 59-57 victory over Moreno Valley.
King senior guard Amya Moody answered every Moreno Valley challenge with key 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 28 points, including six 3-pointers. Junior Martha Firmo added 14 points, including three 3-pointers.
Moreno Valley (3-3) fought back from its largest deficit at 58-48 after Moody nailed her sixth 3-pointer. It went on a 9-0 run and after two free-throws by sophomore post Alaysha Mills the lead was down to 58-57 with 43.2 seconds left. The Vikings got a stop and with 7.2 seconds remaining got the ball inside for a basket that would have given them the lead, but they lost the ball out of bounds and were forced to foul. Firmo made one of two free-throws and then a desperation half court shot at the buzzer by Moreno Valley was well off the mark.
Mills finished with a double-double 21 points and 11 rebounds. Senior McKenzie Gillman added 12 points.
Moreno Valley has now lost three-straight games, but they have all been close. It lost 73-64 to preseason No. 7 Sage Hill (Newport Beach) and 63-58 in overtime to preseason No. 6 Bishop Montgomery of Torrance.
The Troy Classic takes Wednesday off and on Thursday Ontario Christian will face host Troy, while Mater Dei is matched up with Cal-Hi Sports preseason bubble team San Clemente. The winners of Pools A and B, projected almost assuredly to be Mater Dei and Ontario Christian, will meet on Saturday night for the Troy Classic title.
