Sage Hill beats familiar foe Ontario Christian in both programs' Open Division debuts: 5 takeaways

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – The matchup was only fitting.

Meetings between Sage Hill and Ontario Christian produced instant classics in the 2020-21 CIFSS 3-AA finals, 2021-22 Division II Regional semifinals, and 2022-23 regular season.

As both schools continued their meteoric rise into the CIFSS Open Division strata this season, it became fairly likely that they'd battle yet again this postseason. And for about a month before the playoffs, the Lightning and Knights clearly projected as the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds, putting them on a collision path for the very first game in the playoffs.

Basketball fans got their wish, and Ontario Christian got another shot at Sage Hill on Saturday, but the result was the same – another well-contested Lightning victory in both teams' Open Division debuts. The Lightning won 63-53.

After leading 13-9 at the end of the first quarter, Sage Hill wasted no time in taking command of the game in the second quarter. It opened the second on a 14-1 run to lead 27-10 a little more than halfway through it.

Ontario Christian came roaring back to end the half on a 11-0 run, cutting the deficit to 27-21.

But the Lightning surged again in the third quarter and led by double-digits for most of the second half on their way to win without much drama. 

They matched their biggest lead of the game of 17 points when they went up 54-37 halfway through the fourth quarter. Now they'll go on to face Bishop Montgomery on Wednesday, another team they defeated in one regular season meeting.

Here are five takeaways from the game:

1. FACING THE FACTS

A key player on each team fell victim to an inadvertent – but painful – shot to the face. Including before the game even started.

With 10 minutes left in warmups, Ontario Christian F/C Julia Lavigne got hit in the head in a collision. OC's staff believes she suffered a nose dislocation. Lavigne was still able to play most of the game and played very well.

A little more than halfway through the fourth quarter, Lightning G/F Kat Righeimer took a shot to the eye and exited the game. She did not return, and while the level of concern did not seem that high by later in the night, it's a situation Lightning fans will likely need to keep their eyes out for looking ahead to next week's games.

"I don't know yet," said Walters. "Her vision hasn't cleared up yet... it's going to take the weekend, maybe go to the eye doctor, make sure everything is okay. Then hopefully she's ready for Wednesday."

2. BALANCED SCORING EFFORT FOR SAGE HILL

Part of what makes the Lightning so dangerous on offense is their unselfishness across the board when all five of their starters can be their top option on any given night.

Nonetheless, sometimes the winning recipe for Sage Hill on offense is two players combing for 40 or 45 points, or three players combining for 55 points out of 60 or 65. 

But this was not one of those nights. Sage Hill had four players in double-figures on Saturday, and Righeimer was one point away from joining the club despite some extended minutes on the bench with foul trouble and then the eye injury.

Emily Eadie scored a team-high 16 points, Amalia Holguin and Zoie Lamkin each scored 12 points, and Annabelle Spotts chipped in 11 points.

3. BORI STAYS READY

With a complete starting five that can handle heavy minutes, Sage Hill doesn't go deep into its bench on most nights.

But when it does, F Grace Bori is ready on a moment's notice.

Whether it's a two-minute stint during a key juncture of a big game or extended minutes in place of an injured/foul-ridden starter, the sophomore reserve has consistently provided what Sage Hill has needed from its sixth man.

In this one, Bori played about two minutes in the first half before reentering the game with just under four minutes left in the fourth quarter for the injured Righeimer. 

At a juncture where Ontario Christian had found a rhythm and the Lightning could've wavered without Righeimer, Bori knocked down one of Righeimer's free throws upon entering and sunk a mid-range jumper two minutes later. She also grabbed a 50-50 play on a loose ball and made some effective defensive rotations. Her energetic play pumped up the crowd.

"I keep telling her she has the tools to be a big contributor for us," said Sage Hill head coach Kerwin Walters.

"She's a great kid, and it's all about confidence. Hopefully this gives her that confidence. I thought she came in and fought."

4. TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

Eadie and Spotts led the charge on the glass as Sage Hill won the rebounding battle decisively. They both finished in double-digits on the glass or very close to it and scored multiple buckets on putbacks.

Defensively, the Lightning successfully contained one of the state's most explosive backcourts, comprised of 4-star Washington commit Chloe Briggs and California's all-time leader in threes made in one game (17), Dejah Saldivar.

Lamkin saw extended minutes on Briggs and helped prevent her from taking over the game. Briggs scored 29 points, 20 in the second half, but had to shoot in volume to get there with nothing coming easy, and couldn't get into the paint easily enough to shred Sage Hill's defense as a passer like she does to most defenses. Sage was switching most off-ball and dribble handoff action involving Saldivar with consistent fluidity.

"We knew what they can do," said Walters. 

"When you give [Saldivar] an open look, it's a terrifying thing. Our girls talked, communicated on switches, didn't give her the spacing that we couldn't give. I thought we did a really good job of reading it and executing it."

Saldivar saw very little daylight and made two threes to finish with 6 points. Lavigne was second on the Knights with 12 points.

"It feels good, but... this is one step to another plateau that we have to get to," said Walters.

"Ontario Christian, they're a really, really good team. Chloe is a phenomenal player. We're going to celebrate this for half a second, but then we're going to move on."

"Who knew a little school like us could one day be in consideration of being an Open Division team," Walters said. 

"We've worked extremely hard, scheduled extremely hard, and we continue to take on very difficult challenges. Whether we win, whether we lose, or even get blown out, we're learning from all of it."

5. ONTARIO CHRISTIAN SHOWS GRIT, POSITIVE SIGNS

With all its recent history against Sage Hill, this was as tough a game as any for the Knights to lose. They'll be the overwhelming underdog on Wednesday at Sierra Canyon before hosting No. 8 Bishop Montgomery, which they narrowly defeated on a neutral court in January.

But, it wasn't completely devoid of silver linings. 

When Ontario Christian trailed 27-10 in the second quarter after an onslaught of Sage Hill threes, it could've folded. The Knights also could've called it a day long before the buzzer sounded in the fourth quarter, but they kept competing to at least gather a bit of momentum for their next games.

Additionally, Briggs heated up from the perimeter down the stretch, and she's one of the most unstoppable players in high school basketball when she gets her jumper going. While she's been a bit cold from the perimeter in recent weeks, Briggs can also sustain a shooting rhythm for weeks at a time, and when she's hot, she's en fuego. 

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