Ms. Basketball 2026: Kaleena Smith

Choosing a junior for the state’s longest-running and perhaps most prestigious individual honor can create some problems, but it was no problem at all that Ontario Christian’s very special point guard who averaged 31.5 ppg for the CIF Open Division state champions has to be Ms. Basketball for 2026. Kaleena will now look to become just the fourth repeat winner next year, joining all-time greats Juju Watkins, Diana Taurasi and Lisa Leslie.

For this season’s State Players of the Year in girls basketball among juniors, sophs, frosh and for each CIF division, CLICK HERE.

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Since Cal-Hi Sports began naming a Ms. Basketball State Player of the Year in the late 1970s, we have had to make some difficult and even controversial choices in naming the winner of the top award for a girls basketball player in the Golden State. This year, however, the choice became pretty much a slam dunk.

Since 1972 (selections for earlier years based on research), there have only been nine juniors and two sophomores that have been awarded Ms. Basketball State Player of the Year, and now for 2026 it is Kaleena Smith of Ontario Christian, the young woman known as “Special K” to girls basketball fans in California and even nationwide adds her name to the list of underclass players to be honored.

The underclass winners began with Orange County legend Anne Meyers who is considered for the first year on the list of 1972 as a sophomore, then again as a junior and senior. Next came Denise Curry of Davis as the 1976 and 1977 winner. Jackie White of Fresno Sac-Joaquin Memorial won three times in 1978-1979-1980. Cheryl Miller of Riverside Poly, who many claim is the best girls basketball player of all-time, was honored in 1981 and 1982. Miller was followed by Doretha Conwell of Los Angeles Locke the 1983-1984 recipient. Terri Mann of San Diego Point Loma won in 1986-1987 and all-time great Lisa Leslie of Inglewood Morningside was the 1989-1990 winner.

A junior didn’t win again for 20 years until recently retired WNBA great Diana Taurasi was honored in 1990 and then again in 2000 and a senior. Then it was 22 years later when Juju Watkins of Chatsworth Sierra Canyon won twice in 2022 as a junior and 2023 as senior. Now, the young woman known “Special K” adds her name to that list of luminaries after being named Cal-Hi Sports State Freshman and State Sophomore of the Year.

Smith also becomes only the eighth player from the Inland Empire portion of the CIF Southern Section to get the state’s top honor but the third straight and fourth in the last six years. Miller was the first followed by 1996 winner Maylana Martin of Perris, the mother of talented sophomore Sydney “Bean” Douglas of Centennial Corona and an assistant coach on that squad this season. Then came Taurasi followed by 2009 winner Layshia Clarendon of San Bernardino Cajon, and she was followed by 2021 recipient Jada Curry of Centennial. In winning three straight for the Inland Empire, Special K joins Kennedy Smith and Aliyahna “Puff” Morris who won in 2024 and last year, respectively, for three-time CIF Open Division state champ Etiwanda.

There was a bit of a groundswell for Smith to be named Ms. Basketball as a sophomore last season and had Ontario Christian followed up the CIF Southern Section Open Division championship with a CIF Southern Regional and Open Division state championship, she probably would have, however she was edged out by Morris in a difficult decision.

Smith’s numbers this season, while not quite as high as her phenomenal freshman season, but better than last season, were off the charts. What was even more impressive was the she did it in a schedule that included many of the state’s top teams and several of the nation’s top teams as well.

Special K averaged 31.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 4.5 steals per game. She made 138 three-pointers and hit on 89-percent of her free-throws. Her high water mark for points was 51 in a rout of Anaheim Esperanza, but the other time she went for 50 in a game was when she had a nifty 50 in an 96-87 double overtime victory over an Archbishop Mitty of San Jose that finished directly behind Cal-Hi Sports top-ranked Ontario Christian in the Final Expanded State Rankings. That performance was in front of a nationally televised audience and in a game we had the pleasure to announce. Her per performance was simply amazing.

The 31.5 points per game came in at No. 4 among reported leaders in the state, but it was nearly five points per game higher than the second player from a ranked team, Addison Archer of Rancho Christian of Temecula. The 1,103 total points actually led the state and gets Smith a second spot in the Cal-Hi Sports Online Record Book Most Points Season (List) after the 1,153 points she had as a freshman. With still potentially another season to go, her 2,997 points already qualifies Kaleena for a Top 20 spot on the Most Points (Career) list in the state record book.

As for three-pointers, the 138 made gets Special K a second spot on the Most Three-Point Field Goals Made (Season) list after the first one for her freshman season where her 179 made treys was No. 1 on the list until it was broken last year by Lauren Harris of Yuba City Faith Christian. So far, Smith has 409 converted three-pointers in three years and that already is Top 10 all time on the Most Three-Point Field Goals Made (Career) list. She is on track to finish her career No. 2 in state history on that list, but isn’t going to make more than 300 to get to where Lauren Harris finished up her career.

Smith is certainly a volume shooter but she has a career 39-percent average from outside the arc, plus her 89-percent average from the free-throw line this season and her 86-perfect career percentage from the charity stripe gains her two additional Record Book spots on the Highest Free Throw Percentages and Highest Free Throw Percentages (Season) lists, respectively.

Special K is obviously a scorer supreme but her pinpoint passing ability while not qualifying for the Record Book with 240 assists this season, 258 last season and 216 as a freshman, her 714 career assists currently is within 37 assists of making the Most Assists (Career) list. Not surprisingly, the two double-doubles Smith had involved points and rebounds, and her one triple-double was via points, assists and steals.

Others were considered for Ms. Basketball, including Jerzy Robinson of Sierra Canyon and McKenna Woliczko of Archbishop Mitty, and Robinson and was even voted Co-Player of the Year in the CIF Southern Section with Smith. However, with all due respect, the CIFSS looks only at accomplishments in the section. Robinson and Sierra Canyon did have a win over Ontario Christian in section’s Open title game, but even in that game, and although Smith’s numbers were slightly lower than Robinson, she finished with 30 points, six rebounds and five assists.

In the end, Smith and Ontario Christian did not get the rematch they craved for with Sierra Canyon and Robinson because that team faltered in the CIF Southern Regional semifinals in a stunning loss to Sage Hill. In the rematch with a Sage Hill team it had beaten by 32 points in CIF Southern Section Pool Play where Smith scored 33 points with five rebounds six assists and eight steals, Smith was in total control from the outset. She only finished with a game-high 20 points (two three-pointers) with six rebounds, four assists and two steals, but in a total team effort she re-affirmed the fact she is a phenomenal defender. She led a Knights’ girls defense that stymied Sage Hill and scored the game first 16 points and led 54-18 at the half. After that kind of start, she could pretty much have played the rest of the game sitting in a rocking chair.

Against Mitty in the CIF Open Division championship game 56-49 victory in a defensive grinder, the triple-teaming defense of Mitty head coach Sue Phillips could not stop Smith. Smith led all scorers with 24 points, plus three rebounds and five assists, but it was her ability to be able to drive through and around the Mitty defense that inevitably made her live up to her nickname of “Special K.”

Mitty’s Phillips pretty much said it all, and it come from a coach that has coached multiple USA Basketball teams and has had the best of the best on her rosters.

“Kaleena was the difference maker. She’s incredibly shifty, really very dynamic and makes the big shots at critical moments.”

Besides the comments of Phillips, the superlatives that are used to describable Smith are things like “unstoppable” among many others. Plus along with her unbelievable point guard assets and defensive prowess, Special K has a three-point range that is already at the college level and beyond. In the state championship win over Mitty, her team was down 23-15, but a 10-2 run by the Lady Knights sparked by a three-pointer from Smith from beyond the NBA three-point line, which dazzled the crowd, plus two straight baskets gave Ontario Christian a 28-27 lead at halftime and all the momentum.

Every single rating service has Special K as the top player from the Class of 2027 in the nation, and although some national evaluators have her ranked No. 3 overall beyond seniors Saniyah Hall of Florida and Olivia Edwards of Washington, many other college coaches we’ve talked too among elite programs feel despite only being 5-foot-6 while the others are 6-footers, Smith was the top player in the nation this season.

It is not surprising that Special K was one of the first high school players to sign an image and likeness deal that reportedly has brought her hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It’s no wonder she has drawn major interest from UCLA, USC, South Carolina, UConn, TCU and Notre Dame, plus a ton of other hopefuls that likely do not have a chance.

With all the honors, awards and accolades Special K has received, Smith now has a special place on a list that predates all the others, goes back 50-plus years and includes the greatest names the girls basketball game has ever known. The title is Cal-Hi Sports Ms. Basketball State Player of the Year.

MS. BASKETBALL STATE PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
ALL-TIME HONOREES LIST

(All selections by Cal-Hi Sports)
Note: All-time list before 1980 compiled by our founder, the late Nelson Tennis, based on research.

2026 Kaleena Smith, Ontario Christian, 5-5 Jr.
2025 Aliyahna “Puff” Morris, Etiwanda, 5-6
2024 Kennedy Smith, Etiwanda, 6-1
2023 Juju Watkins, Chatsworth Sierra Canyon, 6-1
2022 Juju Watkins,
Chatsworth Sierra Canyon, 6-1 Jr.
2021 Jayda Curry, Corona Centennial, 5-6
2020 Te-hina Paopao, La Jolla Country Day, 5-10
2019 Haley Jones, San Jose Archbishop Mitty, 6-2
2018 Charisma Osborne,
Los Angeles Windward, 5-9 Jr.
2017 Destiny Littleton, La Jolla Bishop’s, 5-9
2016 Sabrina Ionescu, Orinda Miramonte, 6-0
2015 Katie Lou Samuelson, Santa Ana Mater Dei, 6-3
2014 Jordin Canada, Los Angeles Windward, 5-7
2013 Kelsey Plum, La Jolla Country Day, 5-10
2012 Nirra Fields, Santa Ana Mater Dei, 5-8
2011 Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis,
Santa Ana Mater Dei, 6-0
2010 Chelsea Gray, Stockton St. Mary’s, 5-11
2009 Layshia Clarendon, San Bernardino Cajon, 5-9
2008 Jasmine Dixon, Long Beach Poly, 5-11
2007 Jeanette Pohlen, Brea Olinda, 6-1
2006 Jacki Gemelos, Stockton St. Mary’s, 6-0
2005 Courtney Paris, Piedmont, 6-4
2004 Candice Wiggins, La Jolla Country Day, 5-11
2003 Dominique Banks, Stockton St. Mary’s, 5-8
2002 Sa’de Wiley-Gatewood, Lynwood, 5-7 Soph.
2001 Loree Moore, Harbor City Narbonne, 5-8
2000 Diana Taurasi, Chino Don Lugo, 5-11
1999 Diana Taurasi, Chino Don Lugo, 5-11 Jr.
1998 Michelle Greco, La Crescenta Crescenta Valley, 5-10
1997 Erin Buescher, Santa Rosa Rincon Valley Christian, 6-2
1996 Maylana Martin, Perris, 6-3
1995 Renee Robinson, Atherton Sacred Heart Prep, 5-10
1994 Nicole Erickson, Brea Olinda, 5-7
1993 Danielle Viglione, Fair Oaks Del Campo, 5-10
1992 Charisse Sampson, Los Angeles Washington, 5-11
1991 Tanda Rucker, Berkeley, 5-7
1990 Lisa Leslie, Inglewood Morningside, 6-5
1989 Lisa Leslie, Inglewood Morningside, 6-5 Jr.
1988 Trise Jackson, Lynwood, 5-7
1987 Terri Mann, San Diego Point Loma, 6-2
1986 Terri Mann, San Diego Point Loma, 6-2 Jr.
1985 Sharon Turner, Oceanside El Camino, 5-9
1984 Doretha Conwell, Los Angeles Locke, 6-3
1983 Doretha Conwell, Los Angeles Locke, 6-3 Jr.
1982 Cheryl Miller, Riverside Poly, 6-2
1981 Cheryl Miller, Riverside Poly, 6-2 Jr.
1980 Jackie White, Fresno San Joaquin Memorial, 5-8
1979 Jackie White, Fresno San Joaquin Memorial, 5-8 Jr.
1978 Jackie White, Fresno San Joaquin Memorial, 5-8 Soph.
1977 Denise Curry, Davis, 6-1
1976 Denise Curry, Davis, 6-1 Jr.
1975 Anita Ortega, Los Angeles, 5-9
1974 Ann Meyers, La Habra Sonora, 5-9
1973 Ann Meyers, Anaheim Connelly, 5-8 Jr.
1972 Ann Meyers, La Habra Sonora, 5-8 Soph.

Note: List also extends back with assorted years back to 1905 in the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book and Almanac.

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