
Summer club teammates Amalia Holquin (left) from Sage Hill of Newport Beach and Tati Griffin of Ontario Christian are shown together one day before Griffin suffered a serious knee injury. Photo: Harold Abend / Cal-Hi Sports.
We started our annual Girls of Summer tour after the Cali Live 2025 event last month in Roseville with a stop last Saturday at the OGP Hype Her Hoops Cali Cup, but what happened the next day as we were driving north likely changed the course of the 2025-26 season in the state as big-time Class of 2028 standout Tati Griffin of Ontario Christian went down with a knee injury. We still tried to make the best of a bad situation by reporting on what was seen the previous day.
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According to observers, a pall of silence fell over the entire OGP Ladera Ranch facility in Mission Viejo last Sunday, and not just on marquee court No. 3 where most of the top teams played, but over the entire multi-court facility.
The reason was that Tatianna “Tati” Griffin, the reigning Cal-Hi Sports State Freshman of the Year and incoming Ontario Christian sophomore wing, and the top player at the OGP Hype Her Hoops Cali Cup, went down with an apparent knee injury in the first quarter of her Why Not Premier EYBL team’s final game of the Cali Cup.
According to sources, Griffin was apparently going for a rebound, twisted her right knee and began writhing and screaming in pain. After several minutes and being taken to the trainer’s table, she was taken away in a wheelchair.
Because the Girls of Summer Caravan had to head to Northern California for non-sports related affairs, we only caught the Saturday action at Ladera Ranch and had not heard about the injury until a couple of days later. When we saw a score of 14-9 posted on Exposure we texted Why Not Premier EYBL head coach and Hype Her Hoops Director Marlon Wells, who gave us a four word answer with no further details.
“We stopped the game,” was the only explanation of Wells.
Later, unfortunately, we learned of the reason. We haven’t been able to find out the results of an MRI that Tati had earlier this week, but hopes are that it’s not a ligament problem and only a twisted knee that would require far less time for recovery. In either case, we will follow her recovery closely.
The first portion of the July NCAA Certified Viewing Events period for girls basketball doesn’t begin until July 12 but the Hype Her Hoops circuit of girls club events produced by Open Gym Premier kicked off July with the July 5-6 Cali Cup non-viewing event.
We specifically went to the Cali Club to see Griffin and fellow Why Not Premier EYBL teammate Amalia Holquin, an incoming Sage Hill (Newport Beach) senior combo guard and a Cal-Hi Sports All Juniors First Team selection.
In our wildest dreams, could we imagine that in the wake of our departure that calamity would strike Tati?

Westlake of Westlake Village standout Mathis Dritz has moved to Orange County for the 2025-26 season. She will play for Fairmont Prep of Anaheim. Photo: Westlake HS Athletics / MaxPreps.com.
The Cali Cup drew 82 teams with divisions starting from a 6th-grade division all the way up the ladder to a 17U Hype – Showcase division of 10 teams that included some of the top players in California.
Most of the top players and their club teams will be heading out of state for the first portion of the viewing period, so the opportunity to catch some of the players honored by Cal-Hi Sports with all state selections was an ideal way to kick of the 20th anniversary of the Girls of Summer annual series of features that will include player rankings at the end of the viewing period.
Why Not Premier EYBL was preparing for a viewing period event in Las Vegas July 12-13 and the Nike Nationals in Chicago July 19-20.
As previously stated, we were only able to observe the action on July 5 but even so we saw the top teams play at least once, and in some cases two of the four games they were guaranteed for the event.
Not surprisingly the top player at the Cali Cup was Tati, and we were anxious to see how she had developed since March.
“I feel Tati is the best player in the state,” said Wells after the team’s final game on Saturday and obviously before the Sunday knee injury. “Her strength, agility and overall game is superior to any girl in California regardless of class.”
Wells may be a little biased, but some ratings services had listed Tati as the seventh best player in the nation regardless of class. As for Wells and his assessment, the now veteran coach has coached the two all-time leading scorers in California girls basketball history, Destiny Littleton (4,300 points from 2014-2017 at La Jolla Bishop’s) and Charde Houston (3,837 points from 2001-2004 at San Diego). What he says carries weight.
Wells’ most recent prodigy was just graduated Julia Wilson of Temecula Rancho Christian. She is off to Gonzaga after leading Rancho Christian to the CIF Southern Section Division 1 championship and finishing with 1,919 career points.
As for the 5-foot-11 Griffin, she pretty much can play any position on the floor and is as tough outside as inside. She already shot a very respectable and team high 41 percent on 43 made three-pointers last season, but she had appeared to have even extended her range outside the arc, and that was going to be bad news for defenders who have to respect her ability to drive and get to the basket.
In an 81-42 rout by Why Not Premier EYBL over All In Elite National, Griffin played very sparingly and didn’t even start. She came in when Wells brought in five new players midway through the first nine-minute quarter and still finished with 14 points, including two college-range three-pointers, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals, plus her defense was lock down.
In the second game, a 65-34 victory over Cal Sparks 17U EYBL, Griffin played sparingly again and finished with 11 points (one three-pointer), six rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block.
Tati wasn’t the leading scorer for Why Not Premier EYBL but with the way she carried herself on both ends of the floor, it was obvious she was far and away the top player at the Cali Cup.
Back in mid-June, Griffin starred for the USA U16 Team that captured the Gold Medal at the U16 Women’s AmeriCup and she was named All Tournament.
“Playing for USA for the first time was a really great experience,” said Griffin, who was the only girl from California on the 12-player roster. “I was a little timid the first game but as the games went on I learned who I was playing with and my teammates and we just went out there and did our thing.
“I’ve been working hard on my three-point shooting,” Tati continued after last Saturday’s final game. “In my seventh and eighth grade years people were telling me I couldn’t shoot, but now I feel my shot is very consistent with me working on it. I feel I’m able to score on all three levels and get my teammates the ball even when I’m not scoring. I’ve also been trying to get my defensive end better because I feel that’s the key to us winning.”
Now, all the hard work and recent development and improvement is in question. One can only hope that regardless of the severity of the injury Tati can return as one of the state and nation’s top players.
Griffin may have been the top player at the Cali Cup but another player that looked in midseason form and was nailing shots from well beyond the arc was Holquin.
Holquin was red hot from outside the arc in the win over All In Elite National. Her first nine points came on three-pointers with two from near NBA range. She finished with 26 points, including six three-pointers, plus five rebounds, four steals and an assist. Against Cal Sparks 17U EYBL Holquin was not quite as hot with seven points (one three-pointer) but with a roster of nine incredibly talented players that all found the scoresheet in both games, and in games where Why Not Premier EYBL won in lopsided outcomes, the scoring was spread out.
Incoming Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nevada) senior guard Aaliah Spaight only had two points against All In Elite National but led the way versus Cal Sparks 17U EYBL with 20 points and seven rebounds with two assists.
Other players from Why Not Premier EYBL that will make the Girls of Summer Player Rankings are 6-foot-3 incoming senior center and Cal-Hi Sports All State Juniors Second Team selection Cydnee Bryant, 6-foot incoming Marlborough (Los Angeles) center Leila Boykin, Cal-Hi Sports All State Sophomores First Team and 6-foot-1 incoming Sage Hill junior forward Kamdyn Klamberg, and incoming Chaminade (West Hills) junior guard Sydney Roberson.
The second marquee team at the Cali Cup was Team Taurasi 17U EYBL, which is part of the Cal Storm program and is coached by Cal Storm founder/director and longtime Southern California club coach George Quintero.
In the two games we observed Team Taurasi, the girls looked solid in a 56-48 victory over Team G P24 but against Troop West 17U P24 they were handling things with an early second quarter 21-13 and still led 37-36 in the late third quarter but went ice cold from there and fell 56-43.
Players from Team Taurasi that stood out included Cal-Hi Sports All State Juniors Second Team honoree and incoming Fairmont Prep (Anaheim) senior 6-2 forward Mathis Dritz. Dritz, who won her all state honors at Westlake of Westlake Village before transferring, finished with a double-double 14 points and 11 rebounds with four assists. Sharpshooting Jackie Polk, a true point guard and a great passer who was a Cal-Hi Sports All State Juniors Third Team selection at Rialto, hit two college-range three-pointers and finished with 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Cal-Hi Sports All State Juniors First Team honoree, three-point specialist and incoming Fairmont Prep senior Adyra Rajan hit two three pointers and finished with 13 points, four rebounds and an assist.
Two players stood out for Team G P24. Cal-Hi Sports All State First Team Freshman and 5-foot-11 forward Amel Cook dropped in three three-pointers and finished with 16 points, six rebounds and two steals, incoming Windward junior wing Charis Rainey added eight points and five rebounds.
The top player for Troop West 17U P24 was Oak Park incoming 5-foot-9 junior guard Maya DeShautelle. In the win over Team Taurasi, she took over in the early second quarter and finished with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists. Incoming Camarillo junior 6-foot forward Emerson Martin hit three three-pointers, including two during a 9-0 run that turned a 37-36 deficit into 47-35 lead at the end of three quarters of the 56-43 win. A third incoming junior that stood out for Troop West was guard Rosie Santos of JSerra Catholic of San Juan Capistrano. She had nine points (one three-pointer), four rebounds, six assists and a steal.
There will be a number of other players from the Cali Cup that will make the 20th annual Girls of Summer Player Rankings so stay tuned for more upcoming features covering the July NCAA Viewing Period.
Of note, and despite only witnessing two of her games, Griffin will likely still be way up if not on top of the list of the player rankings.
Harold Abend is the associate editor of CalHiSports.com and the vice president of the California Prep Sportswriters Association. He can be reached at marketingharoldabend@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @HaroldAbend