Boys’ basketball: Ayala earns respect even if it’s the second-best team in Chino Hills

What a year it has been for the city of Chino Hills. The No. 1-ranked high school basketball team in America is the 33-0 Chino Hills Huskies.

But there’s also the Ayala Bulldogs. They’re 32-3 and playing Bonita on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Colony in the Division III Southern California Regional final.

Maybe there can be a battle for supremacy in Chino Hills at the neighborhood park when the season ends after next weekend, but for now, Ayala is happy to gain some attention while its neighbor is rolling toward an unbeaten season.

Ayala has produced two standout players this season in Cal State Fullerton-bound Austen Awosika, a 6-foot-3 senior guard, and 6-5 senior John Edgar.

The Bulldogs will have to knock off their Palomares League rival, Bonita, which beat the Bulldogs in overtime, 81-80, back on Feb. 11. That loss hasn’t been forgotten. It probably cost Ayala a spot in the Southern Section Open Division playoffs.

But what a story it would be if two high schools from Chino Hills earn a trip to Sacramento next weekend to play for state titles.

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