SACRAMENTO — Chino Hills is a state champion for the second time in three years, but the path the Huskies took this time is nothing like the one that the 2016 team did. The school of over 3,000 students used just six players in Friday’s 73-68 win over Las Lomas, and only one of those players came from the Ball family. The program known for larger-than-life personalities and tremendous extravagance celebrated its championship in modest fashion after holding off a ferocious charge and nearly seeing a 22-point lead disintegrate.
“They were just worn out at the end of the game,” said first-year head coach Dennis Latimore. “I told them at halftime to pick up the defensive intensity. Hearts pounding, legs burning.”
It looked for a while like the Huskies would cruise as they scored the final 13 points of the third quarter and opened up a 36-14 lead before Las Lomas (31-4) was able to stabilize things.
“We stayed in man defense a little too long,” said Las Lomas head coach Brian Dietschy. “When we went to zone, we slowed them down.”
As Chino Hills (26-11) got out to that 22-point advantage, it looked like there would be no slowing the Huskies down at all, with Ofure Ujadghele and five-star recruit Onyeka Okongwu firing on all cylinders. Okongwu’s putback midway through the second quarter marked the culmination of that run, one that started after a testy sequence in which Andre Ball, cousin of the brothers who donned the blue and green in prior years, received a technical foul for his conduct following an impressive dunk.
That technical foul seemed to be the only negative mark for Ball, whose 17 points were third-highest on the team. Despite being so closely associated with three players known for attempting incredibly deep shots, he tried just one 3-pointer and missed it. In fact, the Huskies attempted just four threes on the night and failed to make any.
Instead, they made their killing with quick interior passing to get Okongwu his 27 points and 14 rebounds. Ujadghele, a 6-foot-3 guard, also thrived in the paint, finishing with 20 points and eight rebounds.
With the Knights unable to answer Chino Hills’ length and athleticism, it seemed like a running clock was a distinct possibility. Las Lomas quickly ensured there would be no runaway, cutting the lead to 15 by halftime and getting within single-digits in the third.
“No matter how much we get down, we stay poised,” said Nathan Robinson. “This team never gives up. They’ve got heart.”
Nothing made that clearer than when the Knights cut what was a 12-point lead midway through the fourth quarter all the way down to five in the final minutes, much to the delight of a boisterous crowd that seemed like it contained the entire population of Walnut Creek. Las Lomas did so by using the same sort of interior ball movement that had gotten Chino Hills out to that seemingly comfortable lead.
“Our main offensive has a lot of curl cuts and moving around,” said Robert Prince, who led the Knights with 24 points.
Prince and Robinson did what they always do, but with counterpart Devin Payne in foul trouble, they were joined by reserve guard J.T. Estes, who scored 12.
“They showed why they were here,” said Latimore. “They’re a hell of a team.”
A 3-pointer by Payne cut the lead to 47-38 midway through the third quarter, and while that lead would get as large as 14 shortly thereafter, there was no way Las Lomas was going to go home alongside busloads of students without at least putting up a fight.
“It was more stressful than I wanted it to be, but that’s why it’s a state championship game,” said Latimore.
