California's best girls basketball high school freshman shines in USA debut

Tati Griffin, who is the best 2028 girls basketball prospect in California, was stellar in her international debut at the FIBA U16 AmeriCup.

Ontario Christian freshman Tati Griffin drives hard to the basket en route to two of her 14 points, helping the Knights beat Archbishop Mitty 61-44 on Jan. 14, 2025. / Photo: Dennis Lee

Tatianna Griffin, known as 'Tati' or 'Tea Time' on Instagram, took the high school basketball scene in California by storm last year as a freshman.

The standout freshman helped to anchor Ontario Christian to the CIF Southern Section Open Division title with a stellar performance in the finals, tallying 29 points and 11 rebounds in a victory over blueblood Etiwanda.

Griffin, who was named High School On SI's Freshman of the Year for 2024-25, averaged 17.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists this past season en route to the Lady Knights' 30-2 season.

Now she's making headlines at the international level.

Griffin made her USA Basketball debut on Monday for the U16 women's team with an impressive scoreline of 14 points, six rebounds, two assists and five steals in just 17 minutes. She was 7 of 14 from the field in USA's 113-52 win over Venezuela in the FIBA U16 Women's AmeriCup group stage in Mexico.

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Griffin, who was recently ranked the No. 7 overall prospect regardless of class by ESPN, is the only player from Southern California on the U16 USA roster.

AGAINST PUERTO RICO

In the second group stage game against Puerto Rico, Griffin scored 18 points on 6 of 11 shooting with six rebounds and two steals in 20 minutes. The U.S. won 138-38.

USA will take on Argentina on Wednesday to finish the group stage before the knockout stage begins on Friday (quarterfinals).

There are only two groups of four in the tournament (eight total teams). Group B includes Mexico, Canada, Columbia and Panama.

The championship is scheduled to be played on Sunday, June 22.

With the @ESPN_WomenHoop rankings expansion, we looked at all the talent in the country with the 👀🔬⬇️

TOP 2️⃣5️⃣: REGARDLESS OF CLASS

🔝2️⃣6️⃣: @saniyahhall_

🔝2️⃣7️⃣: @specialkayyy11

🔝2️⃣8️⃣: Tatianna Griffin

The breakdown 📰: https://t.co/VMrZODsFW7 pic.twitter.com/wtMsDafcLg

— Shane Laflin (@ShaneLaflin) June 5, 2025

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