Ontario Christian girls basketball team routs Claremont to win its Knight Time Classic – San Bernardino Sun

ONTARIO — With a rematch against Archbishop Mitty looming Saturday in Concord as part of the SI20 Showcase, one could’ve easily forgiven the Ontario Christian girls basketball team for looking ahead.

The Knight were locked in, however, and used two big runs to defeat Claremont 77-29, earning a fourth straight championship at its Knight Time Classic and by the largest margin of those four title games.

“We know now what the standard is, and every day we need to make gains towards reaching that level but these girls have done such a good job of buying into me and what I’m bringing to them.” Ontario Christian coach Aundre Cummings said.

“I think we might’ve gotten caught up in the hype after starting out 15-0 and needed a moment like that to humble us,” Cummings added about the 59-34 loss to Archbishop Mitty on Dec. 21 in the Nike Tournament of Champions title game. “But it’s a lesson I’d rather learn now than in February or March.”

Alanna Neale connected on a corner 3-pointer for Ontario Christian before Claremont’s Suraya Haqq scored four straight points to give the Wolfpack a short-lived 4-3 lead just under two minutes into play. The Knights responded with an 11-0 run covering two minutes to grab a 17-8 lead after a quarter.

Tatianna Griffin accounted for seven of her game high 24 points in the opening quarter, scoring on a pair of put-backs and a 3-pointer. The 5-foot-11 freshman added 18 rebounds with nine assists to narrowly miss a triple-double.

“It’s definitely nice to be back home and sleep in our own beds after spending a lot of time on the road to start this season,” Griffin said. “A lot of times in blowouts it’s easy to get sloppy  but Claremont was hard-nosed and scrappy. They made us do all the things you have to do to beat quality teams and that’s how both sides learn from games like this.”

Claremont’s Khrysma Johnson scored five of her team-high 11 points to bring her team within seven just two minutes into the second quarter, connecting on a 3-pointer and finishing a layup. That was as close as the Wolfpack got to Ontario Christian. The Knights went to halftime with a 43-13 lead and closed on a 23-0 run, holding Claremont scoreless for nearly five minutes.

Griffin converted a three-point play while Kaleena Smith hit a 3-pointer from near the volleyball line in that run.

Despite a lopsided margin, first-year Claremont coach Cameron Murray’s team fought hard but couldn’t overcome that difficult second quarter, with the clock running to finish play.

Smith was named the tournament MVP, while Griffin and fellow freshman Sydney Douglas and  earned all-tournament honors for Ontario Christian. Claremont’s selections to the all-tournament team were Iyla Ragguette and Johnson.