ANAHEIM, Ca. – The Chino Hills High basketball team mowed down its final obstacle to a CIF Southern Section Open Division championship Saturday night in the same manner in which it disposed of its first three Open foes.
The Huskies improved to 31-zip with their 105-83 victory over Chatsworth Sierra Canyon (28-4) in the Honda Center and in front of a national television audience.
Over the course of the six Southern Section title games played Saturday, a total of 18,278 paid their way into the building.
And there appeared to be more than 12,000 on hand when the Huskies and Trailblazers tipped off.
And, as was the case, in their Open wins over Santa Margarita, Inglewood and Santa Ana Mater Dei, Lonzo Ball and his teammates wasted little time in demonstrating why they’ve been the top-ranked team in the country since winning the City of Palms Tournament in Ft. Myers, FL the week before Christmas.
Lonzo and younger brothers LiAngelo and LaMelo combined for 19 of their team’s 28 first-quarter points as the Huskies burst to an 18-point advantage after eight minutes.
They never led by fewer than 17 points and the edge was 31 (at 93-62) midway through the final quarter while hitting the century mark in scoring for the 17th time – including during each of their four Open playoff games.
And, yep – the team they beat Saturday night came into the game ranked No. 6 nationally and lost to No. 2 Mouth of Wilson Oak Hill Academy by two points via a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Lonzo finished with 20 points and team highs in rebounds (17), assists (10) and blocked shots (four).
Gelo, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound junior, went for a team-high 31 points with seven rebounds and five steals while the 14-year-old freshman Melo – all 5-10 and 130 pounds of him – scored 26 points with three assists and three steals.
The “non-Ball, Ball Brothers” – junior forward Elizjah Scott and freshman center Onyeka Okongwu – combined for 24 points, 21 rebounds and five assists. And the 6-9 Okongwu swatted five Sierra Canyon shots.
Junior guard Remy Martin scored 20 of his team-high 26 points in the second half for the Trailblazers.
The State Southern Open Regional action gets underway Friday night and Sierra Canyon will be one of the four teams in the field that have fallen to the Huskies this season, joining Mater Dei, Torrance Bishop Montgomery and El Cajon Foothills Christian.
In the other games played in the Honda Center Saturday:
*Chino Hills Ayala 63, Huntington Beach Edison 49 (2-AA): Forward John Edgar Jr. and guard Austen Awosika scored 19 points apiece for the top-seed Bulldogs, Edgar grabbing nine rebounds and Awosika collecting three assists, three blocked shots and three steals.
Juniors Nate Matthews and Randall Walker scored 16 and 11 points, respectively, for the Chargers.
*Oak Park 68, La Verne Bonita 49 (3-AA): Sophomores Riley Battin and Wes Slajchert had terrific efforts for the division’s top seed.
The 6-8 Battin hit 13 of 18 shots to score 30 points with eight rebounds while the 6-4 Slajchert hit seven of eight shots for 18 points, four rebounds, five assists and just one turnover.
Junior guard Joe Quintana scored 15 points with six rebounds for Bonita.
*Riverside JW North 61, Long Beach Poly 58 (1-AA): The Huskies got double-figure scoring from four players, with senior guard C.J. Clark leading the way with 20 points (eight of those via four 3-pointers).
And senior forward Christian Gray, who grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, scored all 13 of his points in the second half.
Junior forward Zafir Williams led the Jackrabbits with 21 points and nine rebounds.
*Santa Barbara 75, Lynwood 65 (2-A): Four players scored from 13 to 15 points to help the top-ranked Dons improve to 31-1.
Six-five seniors Ben Brown and John Cage scored 15 points apiece, with Cage grabbing 15 rebounds.
Freshman guard Oscar Lopez had 17 points with 10 rebounds and six assists for Lynwood.
*Santa Monica 66, Temecula Valley 60 (1-A): The top-ranked Vikings trailed by 11 points at intermission but rallied behind the play of USC-bound guard Jonah Mathews, who scored 33 points with nine rebounds and four assists.
Six-nine senior Scott Hollingsworth had 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Golden Bears.
Friday night finals at Azusa Pacific University:
*Gardena Serra 53, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 50 (4-AA): Junior guard Ray Knight Jr. came off the bench to score a team-high 18 points with six rebounds as the Cavaliers overcame an 11-point deficit in the first quarter.
*Diamond Ranch 53, West Hills Chaminade 48 (3-A): Seven-foot Roman Silva, the best unsigned big man in the western Class of 2016, scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help the Panthers win the program’s first-ever basketball Southern Section title.
Senior point guard Josh Hauser had 15 points with six rebounds and four assists for the Eagles while freshman center Makur Maker added 19 points and nine rebounds.
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