SAN FRANCISCO – Jasir Rencher had the ball on perimeter, facing just one Salesian defender but with thousands of eyes fixed upon the 6-foot-7 Archbishop Riordan wing in the NorCal Open Division semifinal at Crusader Forum on Saturday night.
Facing the same team that had shut him down in the 2024 NorCal Open title game, Rencher wasn’t going to let Salesian stop him from imposing his will in the rematch.
The Texas A&M commit blasted down the baseline and hammered a one-handed dunk through the rim for two points before letting out a roar.
“This is the best feeling ever, best feeling ever,” said Rencher, who led the team with 20 points. “But we’re not done. We’ve got one more, two more to be honest.”
It was the loudest two points of Riordan’s 64-57 victory that sent San Francisco school to its second consecutive NorCal Open final, but it didn’t define the quality that secured the victory.
Yes, there were plenty of those trademark Crusader acrobatics. Andrew Hilman scored 13, Ryder Bush had 11, and John Tofi scored 10, all mostly an assortment of drives.
But when the game was tight in the second half, the Crusaders’ poise was what won them the game.
When Salesian’s Isaiah Davis scored on a fastbreak floater to give the Richmond program a 42-41 lead with 2:20 left in the third quarter, Rencher made a backdoor layup and then buried a contested 3-pointer to send Riordan into the fourth up 45-41.
“I’m happy for the guys,” Riordan coach Joey Curtin said, “And I’m especially happy for Jasir.”
That set up a winner-take-all fourth quarter that Riordan had been waiting for a year for.
Salesian defeated the San Francisco school 49-44 in last season’s NorCal Open final, a game that saw the Crusaders blow a 10-point second-half lead. A 52-51 win at Gridley in December was little consolation for Riordan.
Only a win in regionals against Salesian’s storied East Bay program, the reigning NorCal champs, would suffice.
That long-awaited matchup, which brought out so many spectators that Riordan’s administration had placed additional folding chairs along the sidelines for the first time since Aaron Gordon skied for visiting Mitty, would not be an easy one.
Salesian’s Elias Obenyah carried the Pride on Saturday night, scoring 29 points and making a layup and a free throw to cut Riordan’s lead to just 47-46 with 6:06 left in the game.
In a game where Riordan blocked 12 shots a team, Obenyah seemed to be the only Pride player at times who could score inside.
“He’s a pretty good player, and whoever gets him in college is going to get a good one, and I’m totally happy with him and how he performed,” Salesian coach Bill Mellis said. “He’s going to be mad at whatever mistakes he made, which weren’t many, because he’s a perfectionist. But because he’s a perfectionist, that’s what makes him great.”
Curtin’s Crusaders found themselves in a rare close game during the season.
Long one of the best teams in the region, Riordan established the 2024-25 edition as arguably best in Central Coast Section history.
The Crusaders defeated their West Catholic Athletic League opponents by an average of 38 points per game, and capped off the section playoffs by destroying crosstown rival St. Ignatius at Santa Clara University.
Coach Curtin’s Riordan was seeded No. 1 for the first time in three trips to the NorCal Open playoffs, and enjoyed a bye in the first round.
By the time the middle of the fourth quarter had rolled around, Riordan had shaken off the rust and sloppy play that was partially to blame for it trailing by four after the first quarter.
With only a few minutes left in the game, Riordan was ready to withstand Salesian’s mini-runs. HIlman went on a personal 5-0 run thanks to an acrobatic layup and a poster dunk that saw him almost tear the rim off the backboard with his right hand to give Riordan a 52-46 lead.
“Salesian’s tough, man, they’re a tough out,” Riordan coach Joey Curtin said. “I’m glad my guys stayed together and pulled it out in the end.”
Salesian, whose 66-53 victory in the NorCal quarterfinals had ended the Brice Fantazia era at Modesto Christian, then showed the grit that defined last season’s all-time great Pride team.
Alvin Loving made a layup, Carlton Perrilliat took a steal all the way to the rim for a dunk, and Obenyah split a pair of free throws to cut it to 52-51.
Those missed free throws by Salesian – eight in total – came back to haunt the Pride in the fourth quarter. Riordan knocked down 10 in a row in the final minute, with energetic sixth man John Tofi hitting four, to seal the victory.
“It was nerve-wracking, but coach Joey told us going into the game, that it was going to be a hell of a game,” Tofi said. “We knew we were going to face adversity, so yeah, it feels really good to get this close win.”
Salesian finished the season 27-4, and longtime coach Mellis stayed even-keel after the final buzzer.
“It was a tough environment and we handled it well,” Mellis said. “The game was a lot of fun. They made their free throws, and made a couple more plays down the stretch. We lost to a really good team.”
Riordan (28-1) kept the postgame celebrations to a minimum.
As gratifying as the win over Salesian was, the Crusaders were already thinking about De La Salle and what would be required to win the school’s first-ever NorCal Open title at home on Tuesday night.
“I’m 1000 percent happy, but you know, we have got one more,” Rencher said. “The job isn’t finished.”
