Etiwanda tops Ontario Christian to advance to Open Division final

RANCHO CUCAMONGA >> The biggest question entering Saturday’s CIF-SS Open Division pool-play game was whether Ontario Christian superstar freshman Kaleena Smith would be able to do damage against a formidable Etiwanda team.

She did, eventually. Smith scored 34 points, but Etiwanda’s fast start was more than enough to record a 75-56 victory.

The win sends the secondseeded Eagles (28-3) to the Open Division championship game against top-seeded Sierra Canyon on Friday at California Baptist University. It marks the third consecutive year those two programs have reached the section’s Open Division final. Etiwanda won in 2022 and Sierra Canyon prevailed last season.

“This next Friday is one of our goals, the opportunity to play for another CIF championship,” Etiwanda coach Stan Delus said. “They really want both (section and regional titles). They don’t want the tit-for-tat like we’ve had the last couple of years. I love that about them. It just happens to be Sierra Canyon.

We’re going to create some problems for them, and they’re going to create some problems for us.”

Etiwanda overwhelmed the No. 3-seeded Knight (274) at the start, jumping out to a 28-3 lead just 5 1/2 minutes into the game with the Eagles keeping Smith off the scoreboard.

Smith scored her first basket with 2:08 to play in the first quarter, but the lead grew to 33-5, the Eagles’ largest of the game, before the end of the first quarter.

“I thought our start was one of the best I’ve seen in a long time,” Delus said. “I am not unhappy with our adversity struggles in the second half. I’m actually happy that we saw it now and we know a couple of things we need to correct.”

Ontario Christian coach Matt Tumambing, was hoping his team wouldn’t get embarrassed.

“Part of it was the nerves, and the (Etiwanda) name,” he said of the slow start. “Part of it was trying to overcome that. Once we settled in, we never quit.”

Neither did the Eagles, especially junior Grace Knox.

Knox tied Smith with game-high honors with 34 points and 18 rebounds.

While Smith was Ontario Christian’s only scorer in double figures, Knox had plenty of help. Aliyahna “Puff” Morris added 16 of her 20 points in the first half, and Mcdonald’s All-american Kennedy Smith scored nine of her 13 points in the second half and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Etiwanda never had to sweat Saturday, but the Knights made it interesting.

Smith, who also had four rebounds and four steals, made three straight 3-pointers in minute span of a minute late in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 5343. But that was as close as Ontario Christian would get. The Eagles scored the game’s next seven points and the Knights never got closer than 15 points the rest of the game.

“We prepared all week to play her off the ball,” Tumambing said of Kaleena Smith. “Just because we had the feeling they were going to double her or blitz her on every screen. Once we realized they were going to play her straight up, we put her back to where she belongs and she just kind of took the game over.

“That’s one of the best defenses in the country and she was still able to thrive.”