ETIWANDA – “Big O” has been locked in as Chino Hills senior Onyeka Okongwu’s moniker for about as long as he’s been a dominant force on the high school hoops scene – basically, since November of his freshman year.
But, after leading his team to a stunning, come-from-behind, 49-47 victory over host and top seed Etiwanda Tuesday night in the State Southern Regional DI final, it’s apparent that at least one other tag would be appropriate for the 6-foot-9, USC-bound Okongwu:
Mr. March.
Okongwu’s tying (with 1:15 remaining) and go-ahead (with 5.6 seconds to play) free throws capped a 13-zip run that earned the Huskies their third trip to Sacramento for a state title game since Okongwu has held down the middle – and then some – for the program.
Chino Hills (24-10) will take on Union City James Logan (26-7) Friday night at 8 o’clock in the Golden 1 Center (home to the Sacramento Kings).
During Okongwu’s four seasons, the Huskies won Open (in 2016, when he was a freshman and the Lakers’ Lonzo Ball was a National Player of the Year at point guard) and Division I (last March) state crowns, coming up short of hardware only in 2017 when they lost to Mater Dei in the Southern Section semifinals and to Bishop Montgomery in the regional semis.
The Huskies’ post-season (sectional, regional and state championship) record in that stretch: 29-3.
But, with his team trailing by 11 points with about 4:30 remaining to go in the fourth quarter after a 3 by the Eagles’ junior wing Tyree Campbell, it appeared as if Okongwu’s sterling high school career was just minutes from ending against an underclassmen-dominant squad on the way to securing Etiwanda’s first-ever state title reservation.
Those, however, were to be the last points scored by the Eagles.
And it was the point at which Okongwu kicked his both-sides-of-the-court sizzle into overdrive.
* With three defenders collapsing on him, Okongwu fired a pass to Nick Manor-Hall – one of the other four seniors in the lineup – for a jump shot and his fifth assist to get the Huskies to within nine points (at 47-38) with 4:05 to play.
*Okongwu stripped a dribble from terrific junior point guard Camren Pierce on his penetration and the Huskies turned the possession into a 3-pointer from Manor-Hall with 3:23 to go after a pass from Anthony Bell – who attended Etiwanda for three years.
*After Legend Stamps missed a jumper for the Eagles, Okongwu snatched the rebound and was fouled by Stamps, hitting both ends of the 1 and 1 with 2:45 to play as the SRO crowd’s vocal participation reached the near-deafening decibel on Chino Hills’ part.
*The Eagles committed another turnover and, after picking up the ball, Bell was fouled by Etiwanda’s dynamic sophomore Jahmai Mashack – whose defense was a key element to the Eagles’ 28 victories.
Bell – who went to the sidelines late in the second quarter for some repairs to a cut upper-lip after being on the bruising end of a Pierce “and 1!” drive – knocked in both ends of his 1 and 1 to get his team within a deuce as some on the Etiwanda side of the gym chanted “Traitor! Traitor!”
You’ve gotta love teen-agers.
*Okongwu blocked Stamps on a drive but, on the loose ball, Bell was called for a foul and, after the Eagles inbounded, Okongwu was whistled for his fourth foul on another drive with 1:40 to go.
That left him one foul short of disqualification, and history has shown time and again that things usually go haywire for the Huskies with the guy wearing uniform No. 21 on the bench.
*After yet another Etiwanda turnover (there were five of them in the fourth quarter), Okongwu, while isolated against 6-5, 240-pound sophomore Darvelle Wyatt – who should be a low-post monster as a junior, by the way – turned over his left shoulder into the lane and collided with Wyatt on the drive as whistled sound and a whole lot of folks held collective breath.
And the call went against Wyatt and those with Chino Hills allegiance were giddy while Etiwanda’s loyalists were, uh, something not quite giddy.
Swish – swish. The score was tied at 47.
*Pierce missed a jumper with 59 seconds to go but Okongwu couldn’t convert on a twisting turn-around 10-footer in heavy traffic 12 seconds later, with Brantly Stevenson securing the rebound and the potentially go-ahead – and game-deciding – possession.
But Okongwu, getting way down in his defensive stance against the 6-foot and oh-so-slick Pierce, got another steal and was fouled by Wyatt with 5.6 seconds to go.
The calmest person in the building dropped in free throws for his 26th and 27 points and first lead since barely a minute into the third quarter.
*Etiwanda Coach Dave Kleckner had timeouts in his pocket but elected not to use one of them.
Pierce, after taking the inbound pass, dribbled at full speed, stopping just in front of the free-throw line, turning and pitching the ball to the trailing Wyatt, whose 23-footer (give or take) was on line – for the win! – but just off the iron as the buzzer sounded, setting off the Huskies’ celebration.
“I had a sense of urgency (with the double-figure deficit – which his team had faced in previous regional wins in games at Rancho Verde and St. John Bosco),” Okongwu said afterward, in the midst of posing for dozens of selfies, with championship plaque in hand, with folks a lot more outwardly delirious than he appeared moments after scoring 27 points to go with 11 rebounds, six blocked shots, five assists and four steals.
“I remember what happened against Santa Margarita (when the Huskies led the Eagles by nine points with a little less than three minutes to go on Feb. 23 before losing in OT of the CIF Southern Section Division I final). We just need to keep our composure and keep playing hard.”
Bingo.
“Etiwanda came out in the third quarter (after trailing, 21-17) and really got after us with defensive pressure,” Chino Hills Coach Dennis Latimore said.
“It (the comeback and win) wasn’t about ‘X’s and O’s’. It was about setting down and keeping our composure.”
He smiled a smile he’s showed a lot since becoming the program’s head coach in time to be around Okongwu on a day-to-day basis for two seasons.
“And then,” he said, “the big fella took over.”
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