CLOSE CALL? YES, BY RIORDAN’S STANDARDS
After weeks of dominating all comers in historic fashion during West Catholic Athletic League play, Archbishop Riordan entered the Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs on Friday night as the overwhelming favorite to capture the title.
Riordan triumphed in this playoff opener, but not in its customary one-sided style.
Archbishop Mitty, in the middle of a down season by its standards, trailed by three points at halftime and was within single digits in the fourth quarter before Riordan pulled away on its home court in San Francisco for a 59-45 victory.
To put the final score into context, Riordan won its 14 WCAL games this season by an average of 38 points, including by 29 and 25 over Mitty.
Was this a wakeup call that could pay off down the road for Riordan?
When Aaron Gordon starred for Mitty more than a decade ago, the Monarchs nearly lost in the first round of the CCS Open, edging Soquel 59-57 in 2013.
Mitty went on to win CCS and NorCal Open championships and then took Mater Dei to the wire in the state Open final before losing 50-45.
Maybe something similar will unfold for Riordan, which is trying to reach the state Open final after narrowly falling short of the big game last season.
“It’s good in a way,” Riordan coach Joe Curtin said Friday about the closer-than-usual call in a text to the Bay Area News Group’s Joseph Dycus. “It reminds us to keep our edge at all times. I thought our guys played solid overall. The second quarter we were a step slow.”
Mitty needed nine 3-pointers to keep the score respectable.
Riordan led 10-2 after the first quarter but was outscored 17-12 in the second, one of the few times that an opponent outscored the Crusaders in a quarter this season.
Jasir Rencher finished with 12 points to lead Riordan, which also got 11 points each from Andrew Hilman and Cole White.
Daniel Ryan had 11 points for Mitty, a program that knows how to elevate its game at this time of the year.
Since the CCS added an Open Division in 2013, Mitty has reached the final eight times and won five titles.
— Darren Sabedra
VALLEY CHRISTIAN, M-A COACHES TALK CCS OPEN POOL PLAY
It’s a bit odd when a playoff game isn’t one that could bring your season to an end.
In the CCS Open Division, every team makes the NorCal regional playoffs. More than that, each team is guaranteed three playoff games.
So when No. 4 Valley Christian and No. 5 Menlo-Atherton squared off in boys basketball on Friday night in San Jose, they did so knowing that no matter what happened, neither team would be eliminated from the playoffs.
Odd? Perhaps.
But there’s still plenty of value in playing a guaranteed trio of games against high-level teams.
“It’s a young team,” M-A coach Craig Carson said. “Seven of our top eight tonight were juniors. So we want these guys, hopefully – you never want to say, ‘Next year, we’ll be here.’ But if things work out well and things happen, these guys now have the experience of playing against some really good teams and something to reach back and say, ‘Hey, remember last year?’”
For VC, which beat M-A by 14 to avenge a 13-point loss in Atherton, the Open provides an opportunity to solidify its seed for the NorCal tournament. A win against Archbishop Mitty on Monday could clinch a spot in Division I.
“Winning this one and beating Mitty would probably lock that in,” VC coach Colin Pfaff said. “That’s my guess.”
Both teams will have the opportunity to face off against No. 1 Riordan, the top team in the Bay Area. And though the chances of beating the Crusaders are low – Mitty’s 14-point loss on Friday was an accomplishment in itself – meaning smaller goals can pay dividends in future games.
“Can we get better than we were last time?” said Pfaff, whose VC team lost 83-36 to Riordan on Feb. 14. “And then can we win a quarter? Can we minimize (the deficit) at half? I call it four eight-minute wars. Let’s win one war and try to do it that way.”
“We just want to get better and have competitive games, because these are the types of teams that we’re going to face in NorCals,” Carson added.
– Christian Babcock
BERKELEY: PLAYING WITH HOUSE MONEY
Berkeley sophomore Henry Robinson was unfazed by the raucous standing-room-only crowd in St. Joseph Notre Dame’s cramped gym when he beat the second-quarter buzzer on a banked-in 3-pointer.
So it should’ve come as no surprise that when he let the last shot of the third period fly, he had zero hesitation.
“Oh, I was definitely pulling that,” Robinson said.
Robinson nailed that shot, too – swishing it instead of using the backboard – as sixth-seeded Berkeley beat No. 3 SJND 74-55 in the quarterfinals of the NCS Division III playoffs.
“I always tell him that if he’s open, to shoot it because we don’t worry about the misses,” Berkeley coach Mike Hudson said.
Robinson led all scorers with 20 points and teammate Kavi Jivan had 18.
Coach Jon Musson’s St. Joseph Notre Dame team, which had won more than 20 games for the first time since 2019, was led by floor general Greyson Martin (seven points, eight assists) and Ariel Garcia Jajeh (10 points).
Robinson’s loose demeanor embodied the carefree attitude the Yellowjackets have taken on this postseason.
Hudson said his team was playing with “house money” before tipoff, with nobody expecting much from a squad that finished the regular season 12-14.
“We’re very loose, because we’re going to play as hard as we can, and if our best isn’t good enough, then it ain’t good enough,” Hudson said.
So far, Berkeley’s best has been enough to beat Eureka in the first round and SJND (21-9) in the second. The Yellowjackets (14-14) are now one win away from a spot in regional play. They’ll travel to No. 2 San Domenico on Tuesday.
– Joseph Dycus
PINEWOOD GIRLS OFF AND ROLLING
One down, two more to go before Pinewood gets what most likely will be another crack at Archbishop Mitty for the CCS Open Division championship.
The second-seeded Panthers opened play in Pool B at home on Friday with a dominant 71-39 victory over seventh-seeded Sacred Heart Cathedral.
Jolyn Ding had herself a game for Pinewood, finishing with a career-high 29 points on 10-of-17 shooting to lead the way. The senior made four 3-pointers in seven attempts.
Katherine Garr, also a senior, added 17 points and senior Vallory Kuelker finished with 11 as Pinewood stretched its winning streak to nine.
Next up for the Panthers is the second of three pool-play games, Monday at home against St. Francis.
Pinewood closes Pool B at home against Priory on Wednesday, an opponent the Panthers beat 63-38 and 57-50 during West Bay Athletic League Foothill Division play.
– Darren Sabedra
MILPITAS, MENLO-ATHERTON PUT ON FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN OPEN
It’s something of a rare occasion when a public school wins a game in the Central Coast Section’s Open Division.
It’s only happened a few times overall. Public schools are 5-30 in the Open and had never won a pool play game since that format began in 2022.
But 2025 is the year that changed for good. Milpitas, the No. 6 seed, upset No. 3 Bellarmine on Friday in San Jose. And No. 5 Menlo-Atherton, which has multiple Open wins to its credit, is a threat on the other side of the bracket.
Palo Alto was the first public Open team to beat a private school, toppling St. Ignatius 75-60 in 2018. M-A followed suit the next two years, beating Serra 67-54 in 2019 and 45-43 (OT) in 2020.
Half Moon Bay kept the good times rolling with a 71-68 win over Bellarmine in 2021. But until Friday, a new public school drought had run its course for three consecutive seasons.
Though M-A lost to Valley Christian on Friday night, the Bears are certainly capable of picking up another open win against No. 8 Mitty next Wednesday. M-A knocked off Valley Christian in the regular season and has knocked off other WCAL foes historically.
“We’ve gotten wins in the past against teams,” Carson said. “We’ve beaten Serra twice, a couple other wins here and there.”
M-A was on the short end of the stick against VC this time, but Carson has faith the Bears will be ready the next time they face a strong WCAL foe.
“They knocked down their 3s,” Carson said of VC. “And then we’re on a nice run, and Brayden (Harris) frickin’ hits a bank shot from 25 feet. It is what it is. I mean, they were due to get us one time. We’ve gotten the better of them the last couple times. It happens.”
– Christian Babcock
LOOKING AHEAD TO SATURDAY
No. 14 Heritage boys, fresh off an upset of No. 3 St. Mary’s-Berkeley, will take on fellow surprise team in No. 11 Marin Catholic with a berth in the NCS Division III semifinals on the line. … In Division IV, No. 13 San Lorenzo will take on No. 11 Windsor in a battle of surprise teams, and No. 3 El Cerrito will play host to No. 11 St. Patrick-St. Vincent in an all-TCAL showdown. … In girls Division IV, top-seeded Encinal plays host to Archie Williams, and No. 7 Las Lomas will try to upset No. 2 Head-Royce in Oakland. … In the CCS Division I boys bracket, No. 11 Independence will travel to No. 6 Santa Teresa in what should be a high-scoring game. On the girls side, No. 8 Branham will welcome Fremont-Sunnyvale. … No. 9 Gunn goes to No. 8 Westmont in girls Division II, and No. 8 Aragon takes on Monta Vista on the boys bracket.
– Joseph Dycus