For all of her talent and skill, Ontario Christian sophomore sensation Kaleena Smith demonstrated Saturday she possesses another quality that all champions have — heart.
With less than 90 seconds left and visiting Sierra Canyon making a desperate surge to stay in the game, the diminutive guard chased down a loose ball near midcourt, dove head first into the stands and flipped the ball over her shoulder to a cutting Tati Griffin for a layup that secured the Knights’ 62-52 victory and clinched a spot in their first Southern Section Open Division title game. They’ll face defending Southern Section and state champion Etiwanda next Saturday night at Toyota Arena in Ontario.
“That was a hustle play that fits the mentality I had all game, refusing to lose,” Smith said. “If I have to sacrifice my body I will… just do whatever it takes to win.”
Smith’s many talents were on display. She scored 21 points and when she was not scoring she was dishing to open teammates on her way to 10 assists — a handful of them to Griffin, who had 19 points. Smith also had three steals.
Griffin said the two share a special bond — they played together when Smith was in eighth grade and Griffin was in seventh and also were on the same U17 team in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League.
“The chemistry’s definitely there…” said Griffin, who also had eight rebounds. “Everyone talks about Kaleena’s scoring but she’s the top passer in the country. There are a lot of ways to score and I had to cut to the open spots and set screens to get my teammates shots.”
“They’ve been playing together for quite some time, they feed off each other’s energy and they hold each other accountable,” Ontario Christian coach Aundre Cummings said. “They have great communication.”
Sierra Canyon (27-2) was led by Jerzy Robinson, who came in averaging almost 30 points a game. She finished with 24.
Sierra Canyon’s Jerzy Robinson shoots a jumper over Ontario Christian’s Sydney Douglas on Saturday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
“She’s really strong and we tried to stop her the best we could,” Smith said. “I think we did a good job containing her.”
“The strategy was simply to identify where [Robinson] was at all times,” Cummings added. “On offense we wanted our spacing to be such that Kaleena was as free as possible to create.”
Smith averaged nearly 35 points a game when she was named national freshman of the year by MaxPreps. This season she is averaging more than 23 points to go with eight assists and five steals. She already has college offers from UCLA, USC, Connecticut, Louisiana State and Louisville, among others.
“We’re taking it one game at a time,” said Smith, who goes by the nickname, Special K. “Our goal all season has been to do something this school has never done before,” Smith said.
Leia Edwards had 12 points and Payton Montgomery had eight for Sierra Canyon.
Top-seeded Ontario Christian (28-1) went 3-0 in Pool A and has reeled off 14 straight victories since its only loss to San José Archbishop Mitty on Dec. 21.
Ontario Christian’s Dani Robinson drives for a layup during a 62-52 win over Sierra Canyon in the Open Division playoffs Saturday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
The only question is whether the Knights can handle the pressure of playing in a final.
“Etiwanda is a championship team,” Cummings said of the Eagles, who held off Mater Dei 63-60 to finish undefeated in Pool B. “We haven’t won anything so in my mind we’re the underdogs. I give them that respect.”
It should help the Knights’ confidence knowing they defeated Etiwanda by eight points in November, snapping the Eagles’ 18-game win streak, and Griffin believes her team will be up to the challenge on the brightest stage.
“I was 12 playing 17U so I’ve been preparing for this for a long time,” she said. “I’m always playing at a higher level.”
Etiwanda is on a roll, having won 21 straight games. The No. 2-seeded Eagles (25-4 ) built a 10-point halftime lead versus the No. 3 Monarchs and held on. Arynn Finley scored 17 points in Etiwanda’s win.
