Damien, by all accounts, is off to another terrific start with a 15-1 record, good enough to be ranked 17th in the state.
But it hasn’t faced a monster like Chino Hills yet.
On Tuesday, the two will collide in a power matchup between two of the best prep teams California has to offer.
After going a perfect 35-0 a season ago and claiming a national championship, Chino Hills is off to a 16-0 start, the No. 1 ranking in the state, and may be even better than last year.
“We have almost everyone back and they all have gotten bigger and stronger and they had that experience of last year so they have been in big games and know the pressure,” head coach Stephan Gilling said to the Daily Bulletin before the season.
Their biggest loss was Lonzo Ball, now in the collegiate spotlight at UCLA. But Ball’s younger brothers, LaMelo and LiAngelo, have shown to be more than capable of picking up the slack. LiAngelo has a 76-point game this season. LaMelo went viral after calling a halfcourt shot and knocking it down; he has been touted for his NBA range and aggressiveness.
Chino Hills’ offense is dynamic, to say the least. The Huskies have scored more than 100 points seven different times this season, winning all but three times by double figures. They are coming off a 91-82 win over Sheldon in the championship game of the Rancho Mirage Holiday Classic in Palm Springs.
Damien had a perfect record this season as well before falling to Mater Dei in The Classic, which it hosted. The Spartans suffered a 82-63 loss in the final, where they did not have an answer to Mater Dei’s size.
Damien is led by junior guard Damien Shelton, who transferred from Chino Hills this season. Shelton, who said he switched schools for academic purposes, was the sixth man for the Huskies last season and is now a key component for Damien. He scored 18 points in the loss to Mater Dei.
Senior guard Ezekial Alley and junior guard Elijah McCullough are also impact players for Damien.
They’ll try to put a dent in Chino Hills’ perfect season on Tuesday, though beating the Huskies — who average 92.6 points per game — on the road will be a difficult task.
The game tips off at 6:30 p.m. and will be streamed live on the NFHS Network.
