'Big Four' advance in California Southern Section Open Division Championships

By Staff Report Feb 21, 2017, 10:00pm

No. 2 Sierra Canyon, No. 3 Chino Hills, No. 5 Mater Dei and No. 9 Bishop Montgomery set up semifinal showdowns.

Video: LaMelo Ball to Elizjah Scott for alley-oop
Entertainment value always high with Chino Hills, even in playoff showdown with Long Beach Poly.

Four of the Top 10 teams in this week's High School Top 25 took the floor Tuesday as part of California's Southern Section Open Division Championships.

No. 2 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth), No. 3 Chino Hills, No. 5 Mater Dei (Santa Ana) and No. 9 Bishop Montgomery (Torrance) all advanced with wins, setting up a semifinal Friday for the ages.

Sierra Canyon (27-1) will meet Bishop Montgomery (25-2) while Chino Hills (29-1) faces Mater Dei (30-1) in a doubleheader scheduled for the Galen Center on the campus of USC.

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Defending section, state and national champions Chino Hills rolled past Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 98-74. Sophomore Onyeka Okongwu led the way for the Huskies with 29 points and 16 rebounds.



Chino Hills sets up a rematch with Mater Dei, a 71-55 winner over Roosevelt (Eastvale). The two teams also met in last year's section semifinal with Lonzo Ball sparking a 102-54 blowout for Chino Hills. The Huskies doubled down on the Monarchs with another win in the Tarkanian Classic final in December.

On the other side of the bracket, Marvin Bagley III scored 23 points as Sierra Canyon beat Damien (La Verne) 95-81.

The Trailblazers move on for a matchup with Bishop Montgomery, who had the most nervous moments Tuesday in a 57-54 win over Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita).

Sierra Canyon and Bishop Montgomery will also be a rematch of last year's Southern Section Open Division bracket, won by the Trailblazers.
Marvin Bagley III helped lead Sierra Canyon into the Southern Section Open Division semifinals with 23 points against Damien.
Marvin Bagley III helped lead Sierra Canyon into the Southern Section Open Division semifinals with 23 points against Damien.
File photo by Randy Kemp