Riordan loses to Mitty and takes first place in a draw

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The Riordan Crusaders will need help to win their first Western Catholic Athletic League (WCAL) title since 2002.

They could grab a share of the crown on Tuesday night and set up to win at home on Friday, but shot just 36.6% from the field in a 43-37 away loss to the Mitty Monarchs.

“We just couldn’t buy a bucket,” head coach Joey Curtin said. “They were very physically defensive. ”

Riordan (17-5, 10-2 WCAL) and Mitty (18-4, 10-2) are now top of the league standings with two games left. The teams split a couple of head-to-head matches, in which the Crusaders won at home on January 17th.

Tuesday marked Riordan’s lowest showing of the season, and it was the Crusaders’ lowest showing in a WCAL game since February 2, 2016, a full season before Curtin took over. They never led and made only two three-pointers.

Still, the Crusaders entered the fourth quarter just three behind. They closed the first half 9-3 to go into a 24-18 split and they took the last six points in the third quarter to cut Monarch’s lead to 33-30.

Then they didn’t score for almost five minutes. Gavin Ripp scored his first six points last season, the Crusaders conceded five shots in a row to go 39–30 in the hole before Jasir Rencher hit a 3-pointer with 3:06 left.

“There were a lot of grips, a lot of physicality with a handler that you won’t see again,” Curtin said. “As the game went, so it will be. This is an old school WCAL game. You must be strong to endure these battles.”

Achilles Woodson, who scored a game-high 14 points in a losing effort, scored with 48.5 seconds left to pass Riordan by four, but Ripp made two free throws with 28.3 to spare after a pair of Crusader fouls and Princeton committed Derek Sangster. sank the pair with 17.6 to go to put the game out of reach.

Close wins against the Crusaders are nothing new for Mitty, especially at home, but the nature of Tuesday’s game was completely different. Instead of hitting late 3s to close the gap, Mitty led all the way, except when the game was tied at 3 from an early 3 by Nathan Tshamala.

While Riordan held Sangster to nine points, Ripp scored 10 points, all in the second half, and grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds. Up to two Sangster free throws, Ripp scored every Mitty point in the final quarter.

“He was much more physically fit today than he was in the first game,” Curtin said of Ripp. “He was a good helper for them at the center and if there is a team where this will be a problem for us, it will be Mitty.”

Jayden Paran led the Monarchs with 11 points in the first half. His third and final 3-pointer gave the hosts a 21–9 lead before a Curtin timeout midway through the second quarter. Although he had minimal help in the backcourt when the teams first met, this time he was accompanied by Nathan Noronha and Tyler Jones. Noronha missed the first meeting due to illness, while Jones pulled out with an ankle injury.

“They’re much better at handling the ball when Jones is around,” Curtin said. “When you have a guy of his caliber who can take the pressure off, someone like him who is strong, athletic and well managed, it helps them limit their losses.”

Jones finished with five points and Noronha with eight.

Rencher finished with nine points and eight rebounds for the Crusaders, but failed to complete a key transition midway through third as his team trailed by seven. Mitty extended the lead to 29-20 on the other end due to Noronha’s failure.

In total, the Monarchs had 16 offensive rebounds, including 12 in the first half. They beat Riordan 10-6 on second chance points, with the last two of those points for the Crusaders coming from a last-second loss to Rencher.

“We came out with power,” said Ripp, who had seven of 16 offensive rebounds. “Last time, we were a little worried about all these dunks.”

After throwing nine dunks in the competition on January 17, the Crusaders limited themselves to just two dunks in Tuesday’s rematch, both in the second quarter. Christian Wise threw one down three minutes into the second quarter, and Woodson fed Wise over the alley with one hand late in the second quarter, causing Mitty’s student section to buzz for the next minute.

For the Crusaders to win the league’s undisputed crown, they’ll need at least one loss to Mitty. Monarchs visit St. Ignatius (13-9, 7-5) on Friday and host Christian of the Valley (7-15, 2-10) the following Tuesday. Riordan hosts Bellarmine (9-12, 4-8) on Friday and ends the regular season at Sacred Heart Cathedral (12-10, 6-6) on Tuesday.

There is also a possibility that the two sides will meet again in the Central Coast Section (CCS) Open Division Championship game. The two are expected to pick up the top two seeds at next Wednesday’s seeding meeting. They met in the last two league games; Mitty won in 2021 and Riordan took the title last year. This year’s championship is scheduled for February 24 at Santa Clara University.

English