For the fourth year in a row, the Etiwanda girls basketball team is playing in a CIF Southern Section Open Division championship game.
But for the first time in those four years, Etiwanda will not be facing Sierra Canyon for the title.
Instead, the No. 2-seeded Eagles (25-4) will be facing No. 1-seeded Ontario Christian (28-1). The game will be played Saturday at 8:30 p.m. at Toyota Arena in Ontario. It will be broadcast live on linear TV on FanDuel Sports Network SoCal.
1 of 19
Expand
It is the first time since 2017 that the top girls basketball division will play the final game Friday or Saturday of CIF-SS championship weekend, according to Southern Section assistant commissioner and spokesperson Thom Simmons.
“I thought it was a mistake at first,” Etiwanda coach Stan Delus said of the 8:30 p.m. start. “The boys usually go last … It was done deliberately because of the matchup and makeup of this game. It’s like, ‘wow, girls basketball has come a long way.’ It lets you know how much the game is growing and how many people are looking at the girls game in high regard. I hope this matchup fits the billing.”
There is plenty of hype for this matchup.
Etiwanda has won two of the last three CIF-SS Open Division titles and the last two CIF State Open Division titles. And last year Etiwanda was crowned national champion by MaxPreps after a 32-3 season.
The Eagles were ranked No. 1 to start the 2024-25 season, but dropped from that spot after losing to yes, Ontario Christian, 74-66 in the championship game of the Harvard-Westlake Tournament on Nov. 23. It was the third game of the season for both teams.
The Knights eventually took over the No. 1 national ranking after beating Archbishop Mitty on Jan. 4, avenging their only loss of the season. They are still No. 1, while Etiwanda, winners of 21 straight games, is No. 6.
It is Ontario Christian’s first trip to the section finals since it lost in the finals three straight years 2020-22. The Knights are seeking their first title since 1980 when they claimed the 1A title.
Etiwanda’s program has more Open Division experience, and the Eagles have more experience individually, as well. Etiwanda’s top two players, guard Aliyahna “Puff” Morris and forward Grace Knox, are seniors and have been selected for next month’s McDonald’s All-American Game.
They are joined in the starting five by junior guard Arynn Finley, senior guard Shaena Brew and sophomore forward/center Aliyah Phillips. Etiwanda’s starters were all with the team last year.
Delus says both teams are quite different from when they faced off three months ago.
“(In November) you don’t have all your sets in. You have to see what system works for you,” he said.
In addition, Etiwanda didn’t have two players, sophomores Chasity Rice and Lisa Stewart, who were not yet eligible to play after transferring.
Ontario Christian has a much younger team. Sophomore guard Kaleena Smith (23.3 points, 8.0 assists per game) was last year’s state freshman of the year, and she has two freshmen starting alongside her, forwards Sydney Douglas (who was with Etiwanda last summer and averages 14.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per game) and Tatiana Griffin (averaging 17.4 points, 7.9 rebounds).
Other starters for the Knights are sophomore forward Dani Robinson (a transfer from Etiwanda, 8.7 ppg) and senior forward Alanna Neale (a transfer from Village Christian, 12.1 points, 6.8 rebounds).
So Smith is the only starting player who returned from last year.
Even if only because of their national ranking and previous head-to-head win, Ontario Christian is the team with a target on its back.
Ontario Christian coach Aundre Cummings isn’t counting the Eagles out.
“We’ve been watching Etiwanda and they’ve gotten a lot better (since November),” Cummings said. “That’s what happens most of the time with championship teams. You can never count them out. Their offensive movement, defensive pressure and team chemistry have gotten better. It makes for a very good championship game.”
Both teams are driven for this game: the Knights because they haven’t won a CIF title in decades and the Eagles because this group hasn’t won a title.
“I’m trying to make our kids understand that this team is trying to reach our first (championship). It’s not the same team (as last year),” Delus said.
Both teams have potent offenses, so defense will be critical Saturday. Etiwanda will focus efforts on Smith, and the Knights will focus on Morris and Knox.
“We have to focus on both those players,” Cummings said of Morris and Knox. “It’s going to be a lot more man to man against them. We’ll have to switch up defenses a lot against Etiwanda.”
“She’s a generational talent,” Delus said of Smith. “You have to do the best you can to contain her … not necessarily shut (her) down. She’s impossible to shut down. You can not allow to make plays for herself and teammates. It’s going to be a task for us.”
A perhaps underrated aspect of the game is playing in a larger arena, where shooting can be more difficult. Etiwanda might have more experience in that area, if not from this year, then definitely from last year when the Eagles played in the CIF-SS championship game at California Baptist and in the state championship game at Golden1 Center in Sacramento.
Delus isn’t counting on that.
“I cannot prepare for them (Ontario Christian) to not make shots with depth perception,” Delus said. “I do have confidence we can play well in another arena. (Last year) we put on a defensive clinic. That we can duplicate.”
