Las Lomas inspires even in defeat
Chino Hills holds off charging Knights to win Division I state crown
SACRAMENTO >> Las Lomas didn’t win a state championship, didn’t finish its historic season with the final prize.
But if any game embodied the spirit of this team — the heart and desire that led to so many wins through the winter and inspired fellow students and alums, young and old — this was it.
The Knights didn’t match up against Chino Hills, a vastly superior athletic team, and certainly looked doomed when they fell 22 points behind in the first half.
But Las Lomas didn’t stop charging, didn’t stop believing.
Chino Hills won the Division I title 73-68 on Friday at Golden 1 Center, but Las Lomas gave the many fans who showed up from Walnut Creek something to remember.
“Every game we come in with the same mindset; we just can’t fold,” said point guard Robert Prince, who had 24 points and seven rebounds while playing all 32 minutes. “That’s just not us as a team.”
Chino Hills (26-11) no longer has Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball, who led the program to an Open Division state championship two years ago, but it still has the brothers’ cousin, Andre, a 6-foot-5 forward.
It also has 6-9 Onyeka Okongwu, a matchup nightmare for Las Lomas,
and 6-3 guard Ofure Ujadughele, a locomotive who doesn’t shy away from the rim.
Chino Hills led 34-12 and 36-14 before Las Lomas (31-4) switched to a zone that gave it life.
“I think I might have adjusted too late,” Las Lomas coach Brian Dietschy said.
Okongwu finished with 27 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks to lead Chino Hills. Ujadughele added 20 points and Ball finished with 17.
Nathan Robinson chipped in with 18 points for Las Lomas. J.T. Estes finished with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, earning praise from teammate Prince.
Division II boys
With one missed free throw after another, Alameda slowly and painfully watched its chances of winning its first state championship slip away.
There would be no magical ending to a special season for the Hornets as they were beaten Friday by Crossroads-Santa Monica 59-53 in the Division II final at Golden 1 Center.
Crossroads star Shareef O’Neal, Shaq’s son, scored 29 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked five shots.
But when Alameda coach Cameron Quick analyzed the loss, he didn’t think about the lanky and athletic 6-foot-10 O’Neal, bound for UCLA.
He circled the 15 free throws his team missed in 28 attempts, some of them front end of one-and-ones.
“No excuses,” Quick said. “We have been practicing free throws all day, every day. We just didn’t make them.”
The final miss from the line, with 16.7 seconds left, was the dagger as Crossroads won its third in six trips to a state final.
Other games
Ila Lane had 20 points, 17 rebounds and six blocks for Woodside Priory, but the Panthers fell short of a state crown, losing to Rolling Hills Prep 57-53 in the Division IV girls final. … Sacred Heart Cathedral trailed by 14 points after one quarter and cut the deficit to three in the third quarter before falling to Serra-Gardena 70-54 in the Division I girls final.