SAN FRANCISCO — Any hope Milpitas had to make history again was crushed by St. Ignatius on Monday night.
The San Francisco school dominated from start to finish to beat No. 6 Milpitas 54-41 in the second game of the CCS Open Division pool play and clinch its spot in the CCS Open Division title game. The final score did not do this game justice.
No. 2 St. Ignatius led by as much as 26 points in the second half and cleared its benches midway through the fourth quarter. Milpitas was looking to notch its second win over a West Catholic Athletic League team, four days after defeating Bellarmine and becoming the first public school to beat a WCAL team in the CCS Open Division pool play format.
But the Wildcats made it a point not to become part of what would have been a historic playoff run for Milpitas.
“We knew they were really excited because they were the first school in history to beat a WCAL school,” St. Ignatius coach Jason Greenfield said. “We had to take away that confidence.”
Vince Crisp had a game-high 13 points for the Wildcats, followed by Shawn Boquiren with 11 and Alex Moore and Raymond Whitley who each had eight.
After taking a 10-point lead into the second quarter, the Wildcats blew the game open midway through the period. A 9-0 run capped off by a Boquiren 3-pointer gave the Wildcats a 19-point lead midway through the second.
At halftime, St. Ignatius led 36-18.
The Wildcats put the nail in the coffin early in the third quarter when Moore scored on an and-1 basket, pushing the score to 47-21 – St. Ignatius’ largest lead of the night.
Greenfield cleared his bench in the fourth quarter and Milpitas took advantage. The Trojans outscored the Wildcats 14-7 in the final period, but it wasn’t enough as St. Ignatius cruised to a comfortable win.
“I think we place a little bit more importance on this game than we usually do,” Milpitas coach Champ Wrencher said. “We came out here like it was something extra, and that’s the wrong approach.”
St. Ignatius has now won its first two pool play games in dominant fashion, beating Serra and Milpitas by 13 points.
“I think since our first CCS game against Serra, we kind of just locked in and knew it was playoff time and it was time to handle business,” Boquiren said.
Though their spot has already been clinched, the Wildcats still intend to come out of their pool undefeated with a game against Bellarmine on Wednesday. The Bells are out of the title game mix after losses to Milpitas on Friday and Serra on Monday.
“Regardless of the outcome for CCS, we can’t go 0-3 against Bellarmine,” said Greenfield, whose team dropped two games to Bellarmine in the regular season. “We owe them and so I think we’ll be up and ready for that game.”
Milpitas will have another shot to beat a WCAL school when the Trojans play Serra on Wednesday to close out pool play.
– Nathan Canilao
MITTY GIRLS ONE WIN FROM ANOTHER FINAL
If Mitty is vulnerable without five-star junior McKenna Woliczko, who was lost for the season in early January with an ACL injury, somebody forgot to tell the Monarchs.
Mitty cruised on Monday through another playoff opponent, this time St. Ignatius, 81-49 at home to set up a winner-take-all showdown when Archbishop Riordan pays a visit to the Monarchs’ gym on Wednesday.
Riordan, like Mitty, is 2-0 in the CCS Open Division’s Pool A. The winner Wednesday will move on to the Open final on Friday at SCU.
Mitty routed St. Ignatius 81-49 on Monday and flattened Valley Christian 75-19 on Friday. Riordan beat St. Ignatius 49-45 on Friday and Valley Christian 58-28 on Monday.
If those results, plus two previous meetings this season between Mitty and Riordan, are an indication, the Monarchs should roll into the final.
Mitty won at Riordan 56-42 on Jan. 21 and at home over Riordan 71-50 on Feb. 11.
– Darren Sabedra
RIORDAN CRUSHES MENLO-ATHERTON
Following a “wake up” call game against Mitty on Friday night where the Crusaders won by just 14 points, the top-seeded San Francisco school obliterated visiting No. 5 Menlo-Atherton 79-29 in its second game of CCS Open Division pool play.
Riordan led 45-5 at halftime and didn’t let up in the second half.
Junior guard DJ Armstrong led Riordan with 12 points. Texas A&M commit Jasir Rencher totaled 11 points and Ryder Bush had 10.
Riordan can punch its ticket to the CCS Open Division title game with a win over No. 4 Valley Christian on Wednesday.
– Nathan Canilao
PINEWOOD, PRIORY MEET AGAIN
Pinewood’s quest for a 10th trip to the CCS Open Division girls final in 11 seasons will have to go through a familiar foe – Priory.
The West Bay Athletic League teams have met 18 times since 2017, with Pinewood winning 17 of them.
Each of the 17 victories have come by double digits except the most record one. On Jan. 31, Priory put up a battle on the road in Los Altos Hills before falling 57-50.
That was quite a turnaround from the teams’ previous meeting 17 days earlier. In that one, played at Priory, Pinewood dominated 63-38.
Now, after both teams prevailed through two rounds of CCS pool play, they’ll meet at Pinewood on Wednesday for first place in Pool B and the right to play for the section’s Open Division title on Friday night at Santa Clara University, most likely against top-seeded Archbishop Mitty.
On Monday, Pinewood and Priory looked the part of title contender. Pinewood routed St. Francis 65-31. Priory thumped Sacred Heart Cathedral 62-42.
– Darren Sabedra
MITTY BOYS STILL ALIVE AFTER GRITTY WIN
Despite scoring just 37 points, the Monarchs found a way to win a road playoff game.
Mitty, the No. 8 seed in the CCS Open Division, topped No. 4 Valley Christian 37-36.
Mitty has been playing good basketball as of late. The Monarchs held Riordan to 59 points on Friday in a 14-point loss – the closest game Riordan has had against a WCAL school all season.
The victory sets up a scenario for which the Monarchs could end up in the Open Division title game, but the San Jose school will need a lot of help.
Mitty could advance to the CCS Open finals with a win over Menlo-Atherton and a Riordan loss to Valley Christian on Wednesday.
– Nathan Canilao