Ontario Christian’s Chloe Briggs breaks Cheryl Miller’s CIF Southern Section record for career points – Orange County Register

ONTARIO — A girls basketball record that had stood for 41 years finally fell Saturday night.

Serving a 6:30 drive to play in a game against Bishop Montgomery, Christian Ontario senior Chloe Briggs overtook the legendary Cheryl Miller to become the CIF Southern Section’s all-time leading scorer.

Here it is: Chloe Briggs’ basket that broke the CIF SS career points record pic.twitter.com/LxIoNn7muI

— Pete Marshall (@PeteMarshallLaw) February 19, 2023

Briggs finished the 74-70 win with 42 points, giving her 3,458 career points, 12 ahead of Miller, who retired from Riverside Poly in 1982. Briggs is now ranked #3 all-time in state history in career points and will finish her career there as the #2 player (Charde Houston of San Diego High School) has 3,837 points.

“Being right next to Cheryl Miller is pretty crazy,” Briggs said. “If you’d told me that four years ago, before I started high school, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

The game was the final pool game in the Open Division playoffs. Ontario Christian didn’t make it to the championship game, but Briggs will have at least one more game in the CIF State playoffs to extend her record. This game will probably take place on February 28th.

Briggs finished Saturday’s game with 13 of 25 from the floor (2 of 7 on 3-pointers) and made 14 of 18 free throws. She also had 12 rebounds and eight assists, turning the ball over just three times and adding three steals. She had 14 points in the first quarter, 23 points in the first half, and 28 points in the first three quarters. She made 6 of 8 free throws in the last minute to secure the win. The 42 points equaled a season-high previously achieved in an Ambassador League game against Aquinas last month.

“At first I thought … it might be difficult to get those points (Saturday),” Briggs said. “I just came out strong. Me and my teammates were excited in the dressing room and accumulated a lot of energy. That really helped. When I got a couple of those A’s, I knew this was the game.”

The record-breaking basket gave Ontario Christian a 58-56 lead, and Knights coach Matt Tumambing immediately called for a time-out so the performance could be briefed with an announcement and a display on the video board with images of Briggs reading ” CIF Southern Section all-time leading scorer Chloe Briggs.”

After the game, she celebrated with teammates, coaches, friends and family and received presents a mini basketball that recognizes achievement and added the date.

Chloe Briggs said she will have a special place to display this keepsake pic.twitter.com/qNq4CQWAc8

— Pete Marshall (@PeteMarshallLaw) February 19, 2023

Tumambing, whose first year coaching Ontario Christian was also Briggs’ first season, reflected after the game.

“It was an honor for me. It was a blessing,” Tumambing said. “She’s special in every way, not just scoring goals but passing, how she loves the game, how she loves her team. I couldn’t have asked for a better person to start my career as a girls coach with.

Briggs said she never really considered the possibility of breaking the record until Tumambing told her about it.

“Earlier in the season, my coach told me (about the record),” Briggs said. “He said, ‘You’re close, you might get it. It’s going to be tough.’ He told me it was available and I said, ‘Okay, I’ll try.’ To be honest, I didn’t really care about it all season. I’m all about getting better and winning a ring this year. That’s what I want most. Nothing would mean more than a ring, but this is pretty cool.”

Tumambing admitted the record was more on his radar than Briggs’.

“I’ve talked about it more than she has,” he said. “She’s not really big on records. She’s a winner. She just wants to win. We talked about it, 31 points away (on Saturday) and she said: “I don’t care if I break the record as long as I win.” Nothing else matters. That just says something about her.”

Briggs has led the Knights to unprecedented success, guiding them to the Division 4AA Finals as a freshman, to the Division 3AA Finals as a sophomore, and to the Division 2A Finals as a junior. Ontario Christian has finished second all these years. The Knights aren’t in the Section Finals this year, so Briggs has one last chance to win a playoff title in the CIF State Playoffs, where the Knights are expected to be placed in Division I.

Briggs’ best season was her freshman year when she averaged 1,216 points in 36 games, averaging 33.8 points per game. This season, University of Washington-tied Briggs is averaging 26.7 points. For her career, she averages 28.3 points per game.