ONTARIO >> Flintridge Prep guard Ashley Chea wasn’t the only problem for the Los Osos girls basketball team Saturday night.
The Princeton commit scored 24 points, but her teammates perhaps made just as many key plays in the CIF-SS Division 3AA final at Colony High.
Those teammates kept Los Osos off balance and helped lift Flintridge Prep to a 68-52 victory that gave the Wolves (29-2) their first CIF-SS title since 2016.
“This is something we strived for this entire season,” said Chea, who also had seven rebounds and seven assists. “Our first goal was to win our league. We went 12-0 (in league) and from there on out, our goal was for this moment. We are on top of the world right now. I’m so proud of this team.”
Flintridge Prep held the lead in the first quarter, but had to play for a stretch without Chea after its star guard got into foul trouble.
The Wolves were able to hold the lead thanks to freshman Akemi Fu, who had 15 points and six rebounds.
Freshman Maddie Smith scored 14 points with eight rebounds for Flintridge Prep, which held to a six-point lead at the end of the opening quarter.
“When Ashley had to come to the bench, we had some amazing moments,” Flintridge Prep coach Jayme Kiyomura said. “Maddie stepped in and took control out there. When Akemi picked up a foul, Olivia (Childs) had to go in there and hold things down. Ashley has great faith in her teammates.”
Los Osos (25-5) began the third quarter with an 8-0 run thanks to sophomore Desiree Knight, who led the Grizzlies with 23 points, 15 of which were from 3-point range.
Flintridge Prep called a timeout and slowed down the Grizzlies by ending the quarter on a 17-3 run.
“They outplayed us,” Los Osos coach Dawnesha Buckner said. “No excuses. We didn’t get back down to play defense. We went a little too much one-on-one on offense, which didn’t give us enough movement. They do a great job on movement without the ball.
“We did a lot of standing and watching.”