High
school basketball fans can't seem to get enough of watching unbeaten Chino
Hills (33-0), ranked No. 1 in the nation.
Gyms have been sold out most of the season
when Chino Hills plays, and another sellout is expected for Saturday's Open
Division Southern California Regional final between Chino Hills and Torrance
Bishop Montgomery (28-2) at 8:30 p.m. at the Pyramid in Long Beach.
Seating capacity is 4,450 and about 1,000
online tickets were sold in less than an hour Wednesday after the CIF decided to require a separate ticket for the game. Chino Hills
originally asked for 4,200 tickets to sell to its community. It sold 1,300. An
additional 850 tickets were made available online Friday. The game will be
shown on Time Warner Cable's Channel 84 along with being streamed live at
twccommunity.com.
Five other championships will be decided at
the Pyramid in Division I and II boys and girls games beginning at 9 a.m. along
with the Open Division girls' final between West Hills Chaminade and Long Beach
Poly at 5 p.m. Then the arena will be cleared for the final game.
There also will be six championship games played
at Ontario Colony High, in Divisions III, IV and V. The winners advance to the
state championship games March 24 and 26 at Sacramento's Sleep Train Arena.
Chino Hills has tied the state record for most
100-point games with 18. Point guard Lonzo Ball, a UCLA signee, was named the
Gatorade state player of the year on Thursday. He earlier picked up the
Naismith Award as the nation's top high school player.
Bishop Montgomery gave the Huskies one of
their toughest games on Jan. 30, losing, 71-67. Ball made just two of 21 shots
and will be looking forward to a second chance against the Knights, who have
been led by sophomore guard David Singleton and juniors Ethan Thompson and
Jordan Schakel.
Veteran Coach Doug Mitchell thinks if his team
can improve its rebounding against the Huskies, the Knights will have a chance
to pull off the upset. But Chino Hills loves playing in an arena setting,
allowing its well-conditioned players to fastbreak, trap and create chaos for
opponents.
The Open Division girls' final takes on added
significance after the No. 1 team in the nation, Stockton St. Mary's, was upset
in the Northern California Regionals. Chaminade defeated Poly in the Southern
Section Open Division final.
All 24 teams left in the Southern California
Regionals are from the Southern Section and many of the games will be
rematches, such as the 11 a.m. Division I boys' Division I final featuring Long
Beach Poly and Riverside North.
North won, 61-58, in the Southern Section 1AA
section championship game. The 3 p.m. 1A boys' final between Redondo and Encino
Crespi is another rematch from the Open Division consolation final won by
Crespi, 89-71.
eric.sondheimer@latimes.com
Twitter:
@LATSondheimer
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