Kaleena Smith powers Ontario Christian past Sierra Canyon in Open Division playoffs

Los Angeles Times

23-02-2025

For all of her talent and skill, Ontario Christian sophomore sensation Kaleena Smith demonstrated Saturday she possesses another quality that all champions have — heart.
With less than 90 seconds left and visiting Sierra Canyon making a desperate surge to stay in the game the diminutive guard chased down a loose ball near midcourt, dove head first into the stands and flipped the ball over her shoulder to a cutting Tati Griffin for a layup that secured the Knights' 62-52 victory and clinched a spot in the CIF Southern Section Open Division title game next Saturday night at Toyota Arena in Ontario.
'That was a hustle play that fits the mentality I had all game, refusing to lose,' Smith said. 'If I have to sacrifice my body I will... just do whatever it takes to win.'
Smith's many talents were on display. She scored 21 points and when she was not scoring she was dishing to open teammates on her way to 10 assists — a handful of them to Griffin, who had 19 points. Smith also had three steals.
Griffin said the two share a special bond — they played together when Smith was in eighth grade and Griffin was in seventh and were also on the same 17U team in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League.
'The chemistry's definitely there…' said Griffin, who also had eight rebounds. 'Everyone talks about Kaleena's scoring but she's the top passer in the country. There are a lot of ways to score and I had to cut to the open spots and set screens to get my teammates shots.'
'They've been playing together for quite some time, they fee off each other's energy and they hold each other accountable,' Ontario Christian coach Aundre Cummings said. 'They have great communication.'
Sierra Canyon (27-2) was led by Jerzy Robinson, who came into the contest averaging almost 30 points a game. She finished with 24.
'She's really strong and we tried to stop her the best we could,' Smith said. 'I think we did a good job containing her.'
'The strategy was simply to identify where [Robinson] was at all times,' Cummings added. 'On offense we wanted our spacing to be such that Kaleena was as free as possible to create.'
Smith averaged nearly 35 points a game as a ninth grader when she was named National Freshman of the Year by MaxPreps. This season she is averaging over 23 points per game to go along with eight assists and five steals. She already has college offers from among others UCLA, USC, Connecticut, Louisiana State, Louisville.
'We're taking it one game at a time,' said Smith, who lived up to her nickname, Special K. 'Our goal all season has been to do something this school has never done before.'
Leia Edwards had 12 points and Payton Montgomery had eight for Sierra Canyon.
Top-seeded Ontario Christian (28-1) went 3-0 in Pool A and has reeled off 14 straight victories since its only loss to San José Archbishop Mitty on Dec. 21. The Knights are clicking on all cylinders.
The only question is whether the pressure will get to them in the final, where they will face defending Southern Section and state champion Etiwanda, which held off Mater Dei 63-60 to finish undefeated in Pool B.
'Etiwanda is a championship team,' Cummings said. 'We haven't won anything so in my mind we're the underdogs. I give them that respect.'
It should help the Knights' confidence knowing they defeated Etiwanda by eight points in November, snapping the Eagles' 18-game win streak, and Griffin believes her team will be up to the challenge on the brightest stage.
'I was 12 playing 17U so I've been preparing for this for a long time,' she said. 'I'm always playing at a higher level.'
Etiwanda is on a roll, having won 21 straight games. The No. 2-seeded Eagles (25-4 ) built a 10-point halftime lead versus the No. 3 Monarchs. Arynn Finley scored 17 points in Etiwanda's win.