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AZUSA –  Two years ago he was one of the members of the supporting cast – albeit a very high-powered one – to National Player of the Year Lonzo Ball on the road to Chino Hills High’s first-ever CIF Southern Section basketball championship.

Saturday night, though, now-junior Onyeka Okongwu showed why he was The Man on the Huskies’ successful run to a second Southern Section title.

The 6-foot-9 Okongwu continued his unadulterated dominance while leading his team to a 72-56 win over Pasadena in front of a packed Felix Event center on the campus of Azusa Pacific University in the CIF SS Division I championship game.

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LONG BEACH – The Sierra Canyon High Trailblazers had three tantalizing, point-blank attempts at the bucket in the closing seconds of their CIF Southern Section Open Division championship game with Mater Dei Friday night at Long Beach State.

But, ever-so-abruptly, instead of preparing for overtime Coach Gary McKnight and his Monarchs were celebrating a 55-53 victory and the program’s 23rd section championship.

With his trailing by two points with 8.7 seconds remaining, Ohio State-bound Duane Washington got a clean drive from the left land but couldn’t convert the runner, high-jumping Kenyon Martin missed a tap and then, finally, Terren Frank had the tightest miss of all – a controlled, one-hand follow from eight feet in which the ball dipped in before popping out of the iron as the buzzer sound.

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RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA – The CIF Southern Section’s top four seeds into the State Southern Regional Division I playoffs that get underway on March 7 were set Tuesday night.

Host Bellflower St. John Bosco’s 72-60 decision Encino Crespi in the SS’s Open Division “fifth-place” game means the victorious Braces will be the SS’s top seed to the regional D-I bracket that is unveiled on Sunday (March 4).

And visiting Temecula Rancho Christian’s 61-56 decision at Santa Margarita makes Coach Ray Barefield’s club the No. 3 SS seed into the D-I field with Santa Margarita taking the No.

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FULLERTON, Ca. – Five years ago the first-ever Pangos Junior All-American Camp, for middle school and elementary school players, produced eventual McDonald’s All-Americans in DeAndre Ayton, Billy Preston (2017) and Jordan Brown (2018), as well as 2017 California State Player of the Year Ethan Thompson.

It’s much too early to be making projections on which of the kids who attended the sixth version of the camp Saturday and Sunday at Fullerton Community College will be 2022 or ’23 McDonald’s AA selections.

But there is no hesitation in suggesting that a whole lot of guys who were on hand will be terrific high school players eventually – some a lot sooner than later.

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RIVERSIDE – How stacked is the CIF Southern Section’s basketball Open playoff division?

It’s so deep in quality teams that two squads that came into Saturday night’s semifinals at Cal Baptist University with a combined one loss will be playing for third place Tuesday night.

That Etiwanda at Bishop Montgomery contest came about as a result of Saturday night victories by No.5 seed Sierra Canyon over unbeaten- and top-seed Bishop Montgomery (77-74 in double overtime) and No. 3 Mater Dei over once-beaten and No. 2 seed Etiwanda (76-66).

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