With his high-scoring brother out hurt, Chino Hills sophomore LaMelo Ball shoots for 92 points
Sophomore LaMelo Ball of Chino Hills scored 92 points Tuesday night in a 146-123 victory over visiting Los Osos.
Sophomore LaMelo Ball of Chino Hills found a remarkable way to reignite excitement after the Huskies had their 60-game win streak end Saturday.
He scored 92 points on Tuesday night in a 146-123 victory over visiting Los Osos.
Ball’s brother, LiAngelo, the team’s usual leading scorer, didn’t play because of an ankle injury, so LaMelo was given the green light to shoot and score.
LaMelo Ball’s 92-point game gets everyone’s attention, including members of the Rams and Dodgers »
Shoot and score he did, making 30 of 39 shots from two-point range, and seven of 22 on three-pointers. Ball made 11 of 14 free throws and when he wasn’t scoring, he also had seven assists.
He scored 41 points in the eight-minute fourth quarter.
“It was very exciting, almost overwhelming,” Coach Stephan Gilling said.
Not everyone was enamored with Ball’s performance.
Los Osos Coach Dave Smith called it “a joke.” He said Chino Hills players were fouling on purpose trying to prevent Los Osos from running out the clock and thus deny Ball more points.
“That’s wrong,” Smith said. “It goes against everything CIF stands for. The Ball boys are very talented and great players, but it’s embarrassing to high school athletics. I’ve been coaching for 35 years, and we’ve turned high school athletics into individualism.
“It’s amazing to watch a kid score that many points. But it’s tough to say that’s what CIF athletics is about.”
The 92 points is not a Southern Section record. Tigran Grigorian of Mesrobian scored 100 against Pacific Christian in 2003. The national record is 135 by Danny Heater of Burnsville (W. Va.) High in 1960.
Chino Hills ends its regular season Thursday night at Rancho Cucamonga.
Chino Hills (26-1) was coming off its first loss of the season Saturday against Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill, 96-91. LaMelo scored 36 points in that game.
He is a 15-year-old guard and the younger brother of UCLA freshman Lonzo Ball. LaMelo and LiAngelo are also committed to UCLA.
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