Pasadena’s Title Hopes Thwarted by Chino Hills

– Courtesy photo

By Aaron Valdez

In a colossal clash of canines, the Bulldogs of Pasadena High School (23-7) were finally stumped by the Chino Hills Huskies (21-11) in the CIF-SS Division I championship basketball game.

Going into the game, Pasadena seemed like it couldn’t stopped as it was riding the momentum of a 16-game winning streak. The team also just came off an enthralling victory over Rancho Verde in the semi finals.

It seemed the Bulldogs were on course to win their sixth championship – their first since 2012 – but forward Onyeka Okongwu and Chino Hills had other plans.

In it’s first season without the likes of Lonzo, LiAngelo or LaMelo Ball, Chino Hills didn’t skip a beat, handily defeating Pasadena 72-56 in Saturday night’s championship game at Azusa Pacific University. Okongwu was just too much for the Bulldogs to handle as he went off for 38 points and 14 rebounds.

The Bulldogs showed to be a scrappy team all season long but simply didn’t execute on a lot of their assignments and allowed the huskies to have their way, especially in the paint.

Other than having a 16-14 lead at the end of the first, Pasadena quickly surrendered the lead in the second and never recovered. The closest the Bulldogs ever came was when Tavian Percy hit one from downtown to cut the lead to 47-43 late in the third quarter.

Bryce Hamilton, who already committed to UNLV, was Pasadena’s leading scorer on the night with 22 points to go along with seven rebounds. Tavian Percy and Daruis Brown also chipped in with 16 and 10 points, respectively.

This devastating loss did not mean the end of Pasadena’s stellar season, but it will be difficult to remove the bad taste from their mouths.  By the time this article is published, the Bulldogs will have already played in the first round of the CIF State Championships against Narbonne.

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