Chloe Briggs breaks Cheryl Miller’s career points record

A perfect storm led here, to an Ontario night in front of a small crowd, a high school girl wearing a hoodie and a dazed smile sitting an hour after the layup who wrote her name in history.

Southern California has produced some of the greatest basketball talent in the world. Think Lisa Leslie from Inglewood Morningside or Diana Taurasi from Chino Don Lugo. The gold standard is former Riverside Poly and USC great Cheryl Miller, who set a Southern Section record for most points in a career that hasn’t had to be broken in 40 years.

See you Friday night at Ontario Christian. Until senior four-year-old Washington native Chloe Briggs hit a fourth-quarter rebound in a tight game against Torrance Bishop Montgomery, heard her student group chant “His-to-ry” and decided Now was the time.

“I’m like, ‘I’ll get a bucket,'” Briggs said after the game. “‘That’s it.'”

From left wing over the three-point arc, the left-hander dove into her pocket for a James Harden-type isolation play, hypnotically crossing between her legs before snapping the ball back in a left-right crossover, collecting on the lane and hitting a floater off the glass lift that bounced around the edge. As it fell, coach Matt Tumambing ceremonially raised his arms and called for a timeout while Briggs’ teammates pressed them at the halfway point.

With that mark and 42 points in a 74-70 win on Saturday night, Briggs surpassed Miller’s record of 3,446 points and moved up to 3,458 points.

“I don’t think anyone is going to come close for a while,” Tumambing said. “I think it takes a lot of longevity, a lot of playoff games.”

And therein lies the perfect storm, the moment that’s special not just for Briggs but for high school sports in general. As a freshman on an Ontario Christian team playing in Division 4AA, she came to a school of 400 kids as an exceptional talent, averaging 33.8 points per game.

In today’s landscape, that player could switch elsewhere. Briggs stayed and took her team one playoff level in the Southern Section every year for four years until they reached the Open Division this season.

“Before Chloe Briggs, no one knew who Ontario Christian was,” Tumambing said. “Future generations will want to come here because of what she did.”

The coach has invested more in Briggs’ record-breaking pursuit than she has, he admitted, and has followed her progress throughout the season. She came into Saturday’s matchup against Bishop Montgomery 31 points down, was within reach but needed a strong game.

Briggs actively tried to avoid thinking about it. They just needed a win. Still, Tumambing spoke to the coaching staff about giving her a few extra sets early on, and she started with 14 points and a string of three-pointers in the first quarter. By then, Briggs knew.

The planned celebration, Briggs said after the game, was simple: Her teammates all came to her house that night to stay the night. A cornerstone of the program, through and through.

“It was a special moment,” Briggs said, “that will stay with me forever.”

championships on the track

Everyone paying attention to girls’ basketball in the southern section was waiting for Chatsworth to advance to Sierra Canyon and Etiwanda for a rematch in the Open Division Finals this Saturday. After Sierra Canyon Newport Beach defeated Sage Hill and Etiwanda outlasted Santa Ana Mater Dei last Saturday night, they will meet again this weekend at the Honda Center in a scintillating private-public school duel.

Two other notable championship games:

– LA Marlborough (22-8) is in the Southern Section Division 1 Finals for the first time in program history, a fact that had head coach Sixx Johnson rubbing his eyes in disbelief as soon as he woke up Sunday morning. Sisters Bella and Lauren Munoz share backcourt in support of senior center Autumn Hill, a 6-foot-3 force at center who saved eight shots in a semifinal win over Fullerton Rosary. The Mustangs will play Orange Lutheran for the title on Friday or Saturday at the Honda Center at a time to be determined Monday.

In the City Section, Sun Valley Poly (22-5) reached the Division I finals behind twins Hannah and Heart Lising. The two grew up in the Philippines and came to America for high school as most of their extended family remains in their home country; Now they’re on a unique journey to pursue college hoops. The Parrots will play LACES in the title game at a date (Thursday-Saturday) and time to be determined on Monday.