No. 1
Ontario Christian (Ontario) advanced to its first California Open Division state final Tuesday with a 73-51 win over No. 12
Sage Hill (Newport Beach).
The Knights take on No. 2
Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) at 6 p.m. Saturday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
On Tuesday, the Knights got 20 points from the nation's top-ranked junior prospect
Kaleena Smith.
Dani Robinson and
Tatianna Griffin each added 17 while freshman
Chloe Jenkins contributed 14.
Ontario Christian celebrates its regional final win over Sage Hill on Tuesday night. The Knights will meet Archbishop Mitty on Saturday in a national No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup. (PHOTO: Edgar Serrano)
Sage Hill was led by Texas commit
Amalia Holguin with 25 points.
Ontario Christian sprinted out to a 34-4 lead after one period on the strength of a suffocating defense and opportunistic fast breaks. Robinson hit a trio of 3-pointers in the opening quarter while Jenkins scored 10 in the period, including 4 of 4 from the free throw line.
Sage Hill faced an uphill battle down 54-18 at halftime but responded with 10-0 run to start the third quarter before Smith swatted away any optimism by scoring seven points in a row for Ontario Christian.
Mitty and Ontario Christian have waged some epic battles over the past two seasons.
The Monarchs trounced Ontario Christian 59-34 in the 2024 Nike Tournament of Champions final only to have a rematch two weeks later at the Sabrina Ionescu Showcase. The Knights beat Mitty 61-44 in a game overshadowed by a season-ending ACL injury to Iowa commit
McKenna Woliczko.
This season, Woliczko returned in time for a Jan. 10 game as the two played to a double-overtime thriller with Smith scoring 50 in a 96-87 victory for Ontario Christian in the inaugural MaxPreps Game of the Week.
