Riordan completes first Serra audit since 2009 amid controversy

English

The Riordan Crusaders banished some giant demons Tuesday night, thwarting a late comeback attempt to complete their first Serra Padres run since 2009 with a 61-58 victory in San Mateo.

But it hasn’t been without controversy.

The Padres host was given a final timeout with 20.5 seconds left, a game that loomed big when Riordan (16-4, 9-1 Western Catholic Sports League) ran in the final seconds to escape when Serra (10 -9, 3-6 ) almost made another furious comeback, this time reducing the deficit from 18 points to two.

“I can’t call a time-out if the other team has the ball, right,” Serra head coach Chuck Rapp asked after the game.

The Padres trailed 57-55 after Aidan Carleson’s layup with 35.5 seconds left and were pressuring in front of Riordan’s bench with 20.5 left when the ball went out of bounds, hitting the umpire near the scorer’s table.

Referee Chip Fugate’s quick response made players on both teams think the Crusaders had called a timeout, when in fact he was signaling the ball went out of bounds from Serra defender Alex Naber, who was pressuring Achilles Woodson Riordan.

“He thought I waved my hand to say ‘full’ so he interpreted it as a full time out,” Rapp said. “It was unintentional. These things happen in the game.”

Christian Wise, who struggled on the line all night for the Crusaders, made the first of two free throws with 19.4 left, and when he missed the second, outstanding sophomore Yasser Rencher caught an offensive rebound, forcing the Padres to foul again at 16.2. On the clock. He hit both free throws, extending his lead to 60-55.

Due to timeouts, Rupp was unable to stop the clock when Naber struck out a three from around the corner eight seconds into the game.

“I was yelling, ‘Here’s my time out!'” Rapp said. “That’s what I saved it for.”

Instead, the Crusaders took their time and Nathan Tshamala entered the lane with 2.8 to go. He made the first free throw, and after missing the second, Naber tried to call a time-out instead of frantically carrying the ball around the court in pursuit of half the court.

“It was the timeout we all assumed we had,” Rapp said. “I felt sorry for the children. They fought and deserved a just end, but that was not to be.”

The technical foul, which was scored with 0.2 left, suffocated any faint hope Serra might have still had. To compound the injury, the Crusaders missed both free throws. Riordan completed an embarrassing 9-of-22 on the line, but after that he just had to intercept the ball, sealing their first Padres hit since Curtin was an assistant coach fresh out of college.

These missed free throws, which did not affect the result, were the only mistake Zachary Jones made throughout the game. The backup quarterback, who is signing a letter of intent to play football at UC Davis on Wednesday, has helped Riordan stay in the lead with multiple clutch plays.

Moments after freshman Andrew Hillman fouled out Riordan’s top defenseman and forced head coach Joey Curtin into a small line-up in the closing minutes, a steal and layup from Jones put the Crusaders up 53–44. Two minutes later, his acrobatic jump over a player who outclassed him by six inches in offensive rebounding kept the ball in Riordan’s hands and set Jasir Rencher to enter the line with 2:10 left.

Clear manifestations of individual athleticism, like those that kept the crusaders afloat. They led 37-19 on a Rencher dunk midway through the third quarter, but Serra went 13-4 to get back in the game. Ryan Pettis’ 5:14 left cut the lead to 49-42 and he connected again with 1:32 left to make it 55-51.

“That was our MO this year,” Rapp said. “We seem to be digging holes for ourselves and then coming back, but it’s too little and too late.”

Pettis scored a game-high 29 points, nine in the third quarter and 13 in the fourth.

However, each of his clutches was answered with flair on the other end. A Rencher interception and a vicious one-handed dunk sent Riordan into the fourth quarter with a 43–32 lead, and Wise, despite all his struggles that evening, scored with a nifty double spin to make it 51–42 at 4:52. On the clock.

“We were able to finish a lot of work,” Curtin said.

A 17-6 streak that spanned much of the second quarter helped Riordan take a 28-18 lead at halftime and a dunk from Rencher ended the streak 9-1 to open the second half, giving the Crusaders their biggest lead with 4:42 left in the third quarter .

“I was so glad we had a pillow,” Curtin said. “I’ve seen it happen with this Serra team over and over again.”

Rencher led Riordan with 17 points and nine rebounds. The dunk was made after an interception and a pass from Achilles Woodson, who finished with 10 points and seven assists. Woodson won the first meeting on the buzzer on 10 January.

Hilman, a freshman from Cameroon, scored eight points and nine rebounds with his usual cavalcade of breakout shots, but picked up a second and third foul in 14 seconds in the third quarter. He was called up for the fourth match with 6:11 left in the game, while Pettis tied the fifth with 4:41 on the clock.

“I had a very short bench in the second half with Hilman fouling so early and missing important minutes before he fouled,” Curtin said.

Dirty troubles have been a struggle for Hillman throughout the year, but the positives far outweigh the negatives. His best game came at 1:17 left in the second quarter when he forced a half court interception, used amazing footwork to stay inbounds, forced a defenseman down, fouled and shot, all part of a 3-pointer. the game that gave the Crusaders their first double-digit lead.

“Andrew has this motor,” Woodson said.

Tshamala, cousin of Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Cuminga and Riordan freshman Alex Cuminga, finished with 14 points, knocking down three triples in the first half.

Marcel Elikagaray finished with nine points for Serra, as did Naber who scored all his points in the fourth quarter. Carleson finished with seven points and five assists.

The Padres will visit Bellarmine (8-11, 3-7) on Thursday and host the Sacred Heart Cathedral (9-10, 3-6) on Saturday. Riordan hosts Valley Christian (7-13, 2-8) on Friday.

English