ONTARIO, Calif. — The
Ontario Christian (Ontario, Calif.) girls basketball team received its MaxPreps National Championship banner Monday and MaxPreps National Player of the Year
Kaleena Smith was also honored during a pep rally at the school.
The Knights went 34-2 en route to winning the Open Division state championship, the first banner for the school. They beat four state champions and eight teams ranked in the MaxPreps Top 25 during the season.
"It's historical. We thrive to be as obsessed with basketball as we possibly can," head coach Aundre Cummings told MaxPreps on Monday. "This year we wanted to not only win a state championship, but all the girls believed that we wanted to be a national champions as well."
MaxPreps has been recognizing basketball national champions since 2009. Ontario Christian has a chance to be the first program to go back-to-back.
Smith, the top-rated junior in the country, led the way for the Knights averaging a team-high 31.5 points per game along with 6.9 assists, 4.5 steals and 3.7 rebounds. She burst on the scene in 2023 winning MaxPreps National Freshman of
the Year honors. Also honored as the nation's top sophomore last season, Smith is three points shy of 3,000 for her career.
"Kaleena is not just the No. 1 junior in the country, she's not just the No. 1 point guard in the country. This is No. 1 player regardless of class and has been for quite some time," Cummings said. "There is no ceiling for someone who wants to drive this thing through the roof. She wants to go to the sky with it."
The 5-foot-6 point guard has a chance to join Juju Watkins as the only back-to-back MaxPreps National Player of the Year winners.
"With her (Smith) being a smaller guard, smaller player, that fuels her because she knows she doesn't have the advantage of being a bigger player where she can relax," Cummings said. "So while the bigger players are relaxing, Kaleena Smith is in the gym working."
Joining Smith on the MaxPreps All-America team was sophomore
Tatianna Griffin, who also earned National Sophomore of the Year honors. Griffin averaged 21.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.
Dani Robinson was selected to the MaxPreps Junior All-America Team after averaging 15.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 3.8 steals per game while
Chloe Jenkins earned Freshman All-America honors after posting 14.7 points and 11.3 rebounds per game.
Ontario Christian KnightsCoachesAundre Cummings, Kameron Earl, Chelsea Hester, Alex Schloeman
