Led by the Ball brothers, Chino Hills wins prestigious Florida tournament

Chino Hills High made a strong case to be named the best boys’ basketball team in the country, even if the Huskies struggled in the end Wednesday.

Chino Hills won the City of Palms Classic with a 66-60 overtime victory against Patrick School of Elizabeth, N.J. The Huskies knocked off four teams that were nationally ranked by various polls to win the event and remain undefeated.

After knocking off the nation’s top-ranked team, Montverde (Fla.) Academy, in the quarterfinals and earning an easy win in the semifinals, the Huskies had to work for the championship. Chino Hills led by nine with 3:50 left in regulation and missed three free throws in the final minute, which allowed Patrick to force the extra period.

Chino Hills’ Ball brothers, who averaged 74.3 points combined in the first three City of Palms games, struggled in the championship game. Junior LiAngelo Ball had 11 points one night after scoring 42, and freshman LaMelo had 13.

Senior Lonzo Ball had a game-high 20 points but made only two of 12 three-point tries. Lonzo recovered to score eight of his team’s 13 points in overtime and was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

“This gives us a little more confidence,” Lonzo said. “We can get some more respect on both coasts now. Back home people know us, but out [East] we feel we don’t get the respect we deserve. Now we have it.”

Chino Hills (9-0) became the fifth California school to win the tournament and the first since Santa Ana Mater Dei in 2008. Patrick is 2-1.

Lonzo Ball has signed with UCLA, and the other two brothers have committed to the Bruins.

Chino Hills could be the top-ranked team in the nation when the newest polls come out. Ranked No. 2 by USA Today coming in, the Huskies beat High Point (N.C.) Christian, which started the season ranked No. 12, and Brooklyn Jefferson, 22nd in the Ball Is Life poll, along with Montverde.

“We wanted to come out and show people how we work,” LiAngelo Ball said. “We wanted to come out here and show people we can do the same thing we do back home.”

With the Balls struggling, Chino Hills was well below its 101.3-point scoring average before the game.

The Huskies’ other players’ stepped up as Patrick’s defense focused almost exclusively on stopping the Balls’ three-pointers and fastbreaks, Chino Hills’ Elizjah Scott, a 6-foot-5 junior, had 15 points and nine rebounds, and Onyeka Okongwu, a 6-9 freshman, had seven points, nine rebounds and four blocks.

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