ONTARIO — When Aundre Cummings coached Kaleena Smith, Sydney Douglas and Tatianna Griffin two years ago, he dreamt of them playing together in high school. “What we saw, early on, was the practices,” Cummings said. “At that time, I knew if they stayed together not only would they be a successful EYBL team, they’d be a really good high school trio for years to come.” The Ontario Chrisitan Knights are led by, from left, freshmen forwards Tatianna Griffin and Sydney Douglas, and sophomore guard Kaleena Smith. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) Now not only is the trio together at Ontario Christian, but Cummings is coaching them. The trio won’t play its first high school game together until Thursday. But with sophomore Smith returning from last year’s team that went 28-5 overall — 2-1 in the CIF Southern Section Open Division — while adding two of the top players nationally from the class of 2028 (Douglas and Griffin), the Knights should be even better. They knew each other before that EYBL (Nike Elite Youth Basketball League) season, but this season almost didn’t happen. Last year, Smith was already at Ontario Christian, averaging 34.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 6.5 assists while Griffin was at Ontario Christian’s feeder school, Ontario Christian Middle School. But Douglas started playing this summer with Etiwanda, the two-time defending CIF State Open Division champion. Etiwanda is coached by Stan Delus, who was a Claremont High School teammate of Douglas’ father, Rome Douglas. But ultimately, Douglas, the eldest of four siblings, joined her friends at Ontario Christian. “This (Ontario Christian) is a better fit for her,” Rome Douglas said. “The family made a decision, and I guess we weren’t the program they wanted to be in,” Delus said. Sydney Douglas was a little more specific. “I wanted to go to a school where they keep God at the center,” she said. “And obviously I wanted to play with these two (Smith and Griffin) again.” Cummings was elated to learn Douglas would be a Knight after all, since Ontario Christian lost to Douglas and Etiwanda by seven points in the championship game of the high-level Section 7 Tournament in June. “They beat us in a really good game, and she was the X factor,” Cummings said. “We had no idea that she would reconsider. But I’ve always been close with the mom and dad. I was supporting her wherever she went. But when they reached out and said they might want to come over there (Ontario Christian), I was all for it. We were missing a big.” Cummings, who is Smith’s stepfather, was an assistant coach on last year’s Ontario Christian team. Although he has coached more than a decade in travel ball, this is his first high school head coaching position. He believes there won’t be any issues with chemistry since the trio is all very different: Smith is a 5-foot-6 point guard, Griffin is a little taller (5-10) and will play a lot of shooting guard or small forward, while Douglas (6-5) is quite a bit bigger and will be relied upon to grab a large number of rebounds and play in the post. “The great part about it is they don’t play the same position,” Cummings said. “They’re not so needy in the same areas. We like to play fast, we like to play defense, so it eliminates the offensive ego. They established their roles through fall league games (in which they went 17-0).” Despite having only one high school season collectively under their belts, the trio already has a who’s who of college offers or interest, the likes of South Carolina, USC, UCLA, Duke, North Carolina, Michigan, Michigan State, Florida, and LSU. Ontario Christian’s Kaleena Smith controls the ball against Sierra canyon in the Open Division regional semifinals March 2, 2024.(Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer) Smith is confident that their pre-established friendship will outweigh any ego issues. “Knowing each other since we were younger, I feel like that chemistry has always been there,” Smith said. “The summer that we played together when I was in eighth grade and they were in seventh grade, I feel like that was a very special year. So, continuing that this year, I feel like it’s going to be a great season.” However, she said last year she was focused on that season and not the future. “Last year, we had a great team. When that was all said and done, (then) I started thinking about this (year),” Smith said. Griffin said the fact that Smith can pass along some wisdom from her year of high school basketball experience. “I feel like she’ll keep us in check and keep us doing the right things,” Griffin said. While Ontario Christian’s strength might have snuck up on the opposition last year, that’s not the case this year. The Knights are in the Ambassador League for most sports, but will not be playing any girls basketball league games this year. The league has already conceded that Ontario Christian would dominate the league and will be crowned the league champion without playing any games. And Smith got the attention of shoe companies, recently signing an NIL deal with adidas. “I was definitely thinking about getting a shoe deal when I got into college,” Smith said. “But now since the rules changed, having a great summer with Team Taurasi, I was getting phone calls from different shoe brands. It is really just a blessing from God.” Related Articles High School Sports | 10 Inland girls basketball teams to watch this season High School Sports | Inland boys athlete of the week: Jesus Rodriguez, San Bernardino High School Sports | Inland girls athlete of the week: Juliet Oh, Diamond Bar High School Sports | IE Varsity’s high school football rankings, Nov. 18 High School Sports | King and San Bernardino boys water polo teams open CIF State regional playoffs Tuesday