If she played for any other team in America besides her own, Tatianna Griffin would be receiving much more attention than she has but when you play alongside Kaleena Smith it is easy to get overlooked.
Ontario Christian opened the season ranked No. 1 in the country and Griffin is one reason why. The 5-foot-11 forward was named 2024-25 MaxPreps national freshman of the year after helping the Knights go 30-2 and knock off Etiwanda 65-63 to win the Southern Section Open Division crown before losing to the Eagles 67-62 in the Open Division regional finals. Griffin had 29 points and 11 rebounds in the first game and added 16 points and 10 rebounds in the rematch last March.
Griffin averaged 17.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.8 steals and led her team in field-goal percentage (54.0) and three-point percentage (41.0) as a ninth-grader. She scored 551 points, dished out 122 assists, grabbed 255 rebounds, had 87 steals and blocked 22 shots. She was also durable, playing in 31 games, totaled double digits in points in all but one and scored 20 or more points 12 times.
“I started playing basketball when I was 4 years old,” Griffin said. “I grew up watching my dad play at the park. I was looking for a middle school and we were on the freeway and drove by Ontario Christian.”
The rest is history.
It would be understandable to see a drop off in performance given the Knights’ strength of schedule and the weight of expectations but head coach Aundre Cummings sees the opposite in his super sophomore.
Ontario Christian sophomore forward Tatianna Griffin powers her way to the basket during a win over Archbisop Mitty at the Kay Yow Showcase event at Mater Dei on Jan. 10.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
“I’ve not only seen growth in terms of her off-the-court leadership and accountability, but she’s become more versatile too,” Cummings said after the Knights overcame a 12-point deficit in the last four minutes of regulation to beat San Jose Archbishop Mitty 96-87 in double overtime Jan. 10 in the Kay Yow Showcase at Mater Dei. “She played 4 last season, now she’s more of a 3 and her on-ball defending has improved greatly. She has a different mindset. She’s learned to shoot through mistakes. Like today, she shot it 26 times. I told her, whether you make or miss, we need you to be aggressive. She’s got that short-term memory that all great shooters have.”
Griffin finished with 20 points and 18 rebounds versus the top team in Northern California but her effort went mostly unnoticed as Smith had 50 points. Fortunately, Griffin has no ego — all that matters is winning.
“We chipped away and eventually caught them,” she said. “When my shots aren’t falling I get to the rim and look for rebounds. It’s satisfying to get the win because last time we beat them without their best player [McKenna Woliczko] but this time she played. We pick our poison. … if Kaleena has the hot hand, we get it to her. Other games it’ll be me or Dani [Robinson] or someone else.”
So far this season, Griffin is averaging 22.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.1 blocks, 1.9 steals. Through 20 games she had racked up 447 points and 167 rebounds—scoring 20 or more 14 times. She had 34 points and 18 rebounds against Lancaster on November 28.
Smith, who is a consensus five-star recruit and the No. 1 high school prospect of the 2027 class, called her and Griffin “the best duo in the country.”
Griffin spent her summer in the gym and is bigger, stronger and faster.
Ontario Christian High sophomore forward Tatianna Griffin pulls up for a jump shot over Archbishop Mitty’s Tee McCarthy.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
“Shooting for sure — my three-ball and pull-up jumpers,” she said when asked what part of her game she worked on the most.
Smith notices a difference too: “I’ve seen improvement in Tati’s jump shot and I’m very proud of her.”
Griffin attributes her chemistry with her older teammate to a genuine friendship years in the making.
“Our off-court bond is really special,” she said. “We feed off each other and we’ve helped one another through the tough times. We’ve played together since I was 7 and she was 8 on the Rugrats.”
Ontario Christian suffered its first loss Friday night 57-55 to Forestville (Md.) Bishop McNamara (the No. 1 team in Maryland) at the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass., but the Knights are focused on repeating as Southern Section champions and winning their first Open Division state title.
Griffin has a bright future, but dreams of college or the WNBA are not distracting her from the here and now. She enjoys the process. It is an intense love of the game that drives her.
“I can’t live without basketball,” she said. “I want to be the best ever to do it.”
She is well on her way.