The Riverside Press-Enterprise
WRITING THEIR OWN STORY
Etiwanda's Campbell and Pierce, younger brothers of former star athletes for the Eagles, are emerging from those shadows to lead a team with CIF Southern Section title aspirations
>> Seniors Amare Campbell and Carrington Pierce followed in their brothers’ footsteps by playing basketball at Etiwanda High School.
Now they’re trying to do something their brothers could not do: Win a CIF Southern Section title.
They’re not at that point just yet, however. They have a showdown today with Damien for sole possession of first place in the Baseline League.
They’ve known each other since they were little, playing AAU basketball together, but Campbell nearly followed another one of Pierce’s brothers to play football at Rancho Cucamonga instead.
Tyree Campbell and Camren Pierce, brothers of Amare and Carrington, respectively, graduated in 2020 after leading the Eagles to an undefeated Baseline League season and advancing to the CIF State Open Division Socal Regional Final.
But another brother of Carrington’s, Christian Pierce, was playing football at Rancho Cucamonga. He would go on and play his senior season in 2022 at Rancho Cucamonga before graduating early and enrolling at USC.
“We both played football when we were younger,” Carrington said of him and Amare. “I became strictly basketball my eighthgrade year. I was just trying to get him (Amare) to come over here and play basketball.”
Said Amare: “I was originally a football player. In eighth grade, I made the switch to basketball and Etiwanda was the better fit. For football. I would come home with a lot of headaches, and I would get tired of that. There’s still bumps and bruises from basketball, but not headaches.”
Daniel Ryan, in his second season as cohead coach at Etiwanda, says he notices the chemistry between Campbell and Pierce that comes from having been teammates