Ontario Christian girls basketball team outlasts Sierra Canyon to reach Open Division regional final

ONTARIO — This time, there was an air of desperation from the Sierra Canyon girls basketball team, since a loss would end the Trailblazers’ season.

But once again, Ontario Christian was up to the task.

The Knights scored the final seven points of regulation and the first 10 points of overtime to record a 69-57 victory over Sierra Canyon in a CIF State Open Division regional semifinal Saturday night.

Top-seeded for the regional playoffs and No. 1-ranked in the country, Ontario Christian (30-1) hosts second-seeded Etiwanda in the regional final Tuesday, a rematch of last Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Open Division championship game won by Ontario Christian. It is Ontario Christian’s first trip to the regional finals since 2020.

Saturday’s game was also a rematch. Ontario Christian beat Sierra Canyon 62-52 on Feb. 22 to reach the Open Division section final.

“The team was buying into the concept and understanding that defense actually wins championships,” Ontario Christian coach Aundre Cummings said. “They understood it this game. They proved it this game.”

Sierra Canyon (28-3) led by as many as 10 points early in the second half but watched Ontario Christian use a 12-0 third quarter run to take a 43-39 lead.

Yet the Trailblazers grabbed the lead back late in the third quarter and seemed to be in control when a free throw by Emilia Krstevski gave Sierra Canyon a 55-48 lead with 4:04 to play.

That’s when the Knights started chipping away. Tati Griffin (19 points, 12 rebounds) made a 3-pointer with 3:42 left and Kaleena Smith (29 points) made a free throw. Then, with her team trailing by three points, Alanna Neale (18 points) hit the biggest shot of the game.

“The play kind of broke down,” Neale said. ‘My man went to help on Kaleena and she (Smith) found me wide open. And I shot it and made it.”

It was perhaps the best game of the season for Neale, the only senior starter for the Knights. Neale was 8 of 11 from the field and five of her points came in overtime.

“She’s special and that’s why she’s going to the University of Nebraska … because they see what I see,” Cummings said of Neale. “Those shots are ones we’re comfortable with her taking.”

The game remained tied, but Sierra Canyon coach Alicia Komaki felt her team was denied an opportunity at a winning shot in the final seconds.

With the score tied at 55, Sierra Canyon’s Jerzy Robinson missed a shot and there was a scramble for a rebound. Komaki felt she had successfully called a timeout with her player in possession of the ball, but officials instead ruled a jump ball with the Knights getting possession.

“The most frustrating part was when I called a timeout with seven seconds left in regulation and they called a jump ball,” she said.

So Ontario Christian instead had the final shot in regulation, but Smith’s shot missed to send the game into overtime.

The Knights scored the first 10 points of overtime, and it wasn’t until 43.5 seconds were left in overtime that Robinson (27 points, 10 rebounds) made two free throws for the Trailblazers’ only two points of overtime. It snapped a scoreless span of more than seven minutes. Sierra Canyon also did not make a field goal in the game’s final 10 minutes.

“We had plenty of opportunities and we just didn’t score,” Komaki said.

Robinson was much improved over the last time the teams played. Two weeks ago, Robinson scored 24 points in that game, but made only 4 of 23 shots. This time, she went 7 of 15 from the field, although she missed her final four shots.

Cummings thought Griffin did a great job on Robinson.

“She took on a challenge that we wanted her to take on all year long,” Cummings said. “We knew we would play them and we told her when we do, you’ll have to guard Jerzy. In the first half, she was intimidated. In the second half, she remembered those moments.”

Leia Edwards added 14 points for Sierra Canyon before fouling out in overtime.