Etiwanda beats Archbishop Mitty at the buzzer for first Open Division state title: 5 takeaways

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – In one of the better high school basketball games you'll see, Etiwanda girls basketball won its first ever Open Division state championship with a 69-67 victory over Archbishop Mitty on Saturday.

For the third game in a row, the Eagles were tasked with taking down a top-ten team in the country and prevailed in an instant classic. Kennedy Smith scored 30 points and stuffed the rest of the stat sheet for The E, but it was a put-back off a Smith miss that proved to be the game winner.

Here are five takeaways from the game:

1. NECK-AND-NECK BATTLE

On paper, there wasn't much separating the Eagles and Monarchs. And on Saturday, paper translated to reality. The game included 10 lead changes and 13 ties, and only once did either team lead by more than five points.

Etiwanda led 17-12 after one quarter, at which point it had its largest lead of the game, and Mitty led 33-29 going into halftime.

The third quarter was filled with lead changes – seven of them to be exact. The last one came on a short runner right before the buzzer from Morgan Cheli to put Archbishop Mitty up 50-49 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Monarchs led most of the fourth quarter, starting with a Cheli layup off a turnover, a put-back by McKenna Woliczko, and a steal and layup from Jacquelyn Michael. That put them up 56-49 about two minutes in.

A couple minutes later, Cheli went down with an apparent ankle sprain, and a nasty-looking one. Two replays shown on the big screens at Golden 1 Center led to shivers and groans from fans of both sides, and it seemed sure that Cheli was out for the remainder of the game. 

On the play when Cheli went down, Smith ended up with an open transition layup, cutting Etiwanda's deficit to 58-55 with 4:18 remaining. After a Mitty timeout, Etiwanda forced a five-second violation on the inbounds pass, and seemed ready to take control of the game. But Haley Hernandez responded with a layup to put Mitty back up 60-55 and help quell any fears of the Monarchs collapsing with Cheli out.

Sa'lah Hemingway responded with a score in the paint, but Woliczko scored four straight points to put Mitty back up seven with 2:28 left in the game. In between Woliczko's two made free throws and transition bucket, Cheli somehow returned to the game, and was even able to move without an evident hobble. Another score for the Monarchs, and it would've been their game to lose.

But that score didn't come. Arynn Finley scored at the rim to cut Etiwanda's deficit to 64-59 around the two-minute mark, Smith hit a long one-hander off a spinning drop step from the free throw line, and Finley converted an and-one to tie the game at 64 with about 90 seconds left.

Next came a free throw from Cheli, a free throw from Aliyahna "Puff" Morris, two made free throws from Cheli on a put-attempt to put Mitty up 67-65 with 58.5 seconds left, and two more free throws in response from Morris to tie the game with 41.8 seconds left.

A very uncharacteristic error occurred next for the Monarchs, as they threw away an inbounds pass to give Etiwanda the ball back. Smith missed a jump shot on the ensuing play, but Etiwanda got the ball back again by forcing a jump ball on the rebound with 19.4 seconds left. 

Barring a turnover or a missed shot taken with too much time remaining, Etiwanda's worst-case scenario going into its final possession was overtime.

2. SANDERS WINS IT AT THE BUZZER

Etiwanda's best-case scenario? Winning at the buzzer.

The Eagles executed on their last play, with Smith stepping into a somewhat open 17-footer with about five seconds left. The shot circled the rim and trickled out – right into the hands of junior wing Jada Sanders. Sanders put it back up from point blank, and it dropped right as time expired.

Game over, season over, state championship decided.

3. SMITH PUTS ON MASTERCLASS, WINS SUPERSTAR DUEL

While Smith didn't hit the game-winner or go off in the assists department, it's not much of a stretch to say she did literally everything else.

The 5-star junior forward led the game with 30 points, 13 rebounds, 6 steals, and 4 blocks, keeping the Eagles in the game one bucket or defensive play at a time during many stretches where they'd otherwise have struggled to stay afloat. She also spent a significant amount of time matched up on defense against Woliczko, one of the top freshmen and frontcourt threats in the country, who still totaled 18 points and 10 rebounds on 7-11 shooting but wasn't able to outright take over the game.

It was a legacy game of legacy games for Smith, one of the best CIF playoff performances of at least the last few years relative to the context and level of competition.

While Mitty didn't pull out the win, it was also a legacy game for Cheli, who totaled 24 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals on 7-13 shooting. Just as Etiwanda would've struggled to remain competitive if not for a superstar performance from Smith, there wasn't much room for error for Cheli either, and she was electric. Returning to the game quickly and remaining effective after a particularly brutal ankle sprain? A feat in and of itself.

The two 5-star juniors weren't matched up against each other, but they traded buckets and highlights throughout the night in an exceptional duel.

Morris totaled 14 points and 4 assists for the Eagles, and Finley was third on the team with 8 points.

Maya Hernandez recorded 6 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 assists for Mitty, and Elle Hanson added 8 points.

4. WAR OF ATTRITION

The postseason is largely about which stars shine the brightest. It's also about which team is literally the last one standing. The finish line couldn't come soon enough for either team on Saturday in a physical battle between two very physical teams.

For Etiwanda, the win was perhaps the only one of its kind during the last couple of years. While the Eagles have plenty of talent off the bench, none of their marquee victories in the last two seasons have featured this much run for the bench.

That's because starting SG Majesty Cade picked up her third foul in the first quarter, Hemingway picked up her third five into the second, Cade went down with an injury under a minute into the second half, Hemingway was assessed her fourth foul less than halfway through the third quarter, and starting F Mykelle Richards fouled out as well. The Eagles played ten players on Saturday – with all five reserves entering the game in the first half – which is something that they just don't do in close games, with the exception of a loss earlier in the season to Morris Catholic (NJ).

Etiwanda's 16-6 advantage in bench scoring was unexpected against a Mitty team with arguably the most talented and physically largest best in the state, which it relies on regularly.

Smith and Morris also both got roughed up, with Smith taking inadvertent blows to her shooting shoulder and knee and Morris spending ample time on the ground, but neither sat for a single second of the game.

On the flip side, Mitty dealt with foul issues to its starters as well, and was affected by injuries too in regards to Cheli. In a broader sense, Etiwanda wears all its foes down with physicality, and Mitty was no exception.

For Etiwanda, this win was a signature win in that it was unlike its other signature wins. Having to make it through different brands of adversity from game to game, and usually finding a way to pull through, is part of Etiwanda's M.O., and part of what's made its journey in recent years unique. If the Eagles knew before the game that they would get out-rebounded 44-31, only make two three-pointers, have two starters foul out, deal with injuries, and have to go ten players deep in the first half against another top-ten team in the country, they would've gone in facing very long odds instead of even ones. 

But they found a way to deal with adversity and climb back from a seven-point hole with under 2.5 minutes left in the game, largely through sheer mental and physical toughness. Toughness has been a defining trait as Etiwanda has fully competed with the best teams in the state for years, even during times when it didn't have quite as much superstar talent as the world-beaters it's sought to beat. And even now that the team has that level of elite talent, it's as tough as ever. That's, presumably, what it means to rep The E.

"That's been them all year," said Etiwanda head coach Stan Delus.

"To be able to... fight through all adversity. We prevailed, and it's just a testament to all the hard work these girls have put in for the last eight-and-a-half months."

"We've been in these moments for literally two years straight," Delus said.

"Like, we've been down 14, 17. We were down in 20 in one game. They know how to fight back. They know how to fight through the adversity. They don't really get rattled. They just say, okay, this is what we gotta deal with."

Archbishop Mitty is also a perennial tough customer, exemplified by Cheli's inspiring return to close out the game.

5. ETIWANDA IS ON TOP OF THE WORLD

For the first time ever, Etiwanda is the Open Division state champion. The indisputable No. 1 team in California to end the season.

And looking ahead to 2023-24, Etiwanda's chances to keep it rolling are about as good as ever. 

The Eagles lose two key starters, Sa'lah Hemingway and Majesty Cade, plus sixth man Jaiya Mix. That's a lot to lose. But every one of the very best teams in California is losing, at minimum, two impact starters as well. Etiwanda will return one of the best duos in the country in Smith and Morris, and another starter in defensive star F Mykelle Richards. And the Eagles have lots of budding talent off the bench ready for bigger roles, starting with Finley, Sanders, and sophomore F Ryann Riddle.

If Etiwanda does make it back to the state title game, there's a good chance that it will be tasked with again taking down Archbishop Mitty, which will return an elite duo as well in Cheli and Woliczko. Basketball fans couldn't ask for anything more.