Riordan Posts Historic Blowout of Serra
The Crusaders remained in the WCAL lead with a rare beatdown.
The Riordan Crusaders hosted the Serra Padres on Tuesday night and shot a dismal 11-of-22 from the free throw line, including an airball.
It didn’t matter one bit. The Crusaders rolled to a 74-48 win, completing a sweep of the Padres for the second consecutive season and remaining alone atop the WCAL.
It’s Serra’s worst loss since Jan. 14, 2020, a season that head coach Chuck Rapp missed after undergoing hip surgery. The Padres hadn’t suffered a loss by such a margin under Rapp since Dec. 7, 2018, and hadn’t lost a WCAL game under Rapp by as much since Feb. 2, 2018. It’s Riordan’s largest win over Serra since 1993. And had the Crusaders made their free throws, it could have been even worse.
The free throw struggles were irrelevant. Riordan (16-4, 10-0 WCAL) jumped out to an early 7-0 lead when Saint Mary’s commit Zion Sensley threw down a reverse alley-oop from Andrew Hilman, led 22-7 on Jasir Rencher’s and-1 51 seconds into the second quarter and went into halftime with a 38-23 advantage despite allowing back-to-back 3-pointers to Mikey Ballout to close the second period. A 12-2 run to open the third quarter extended the lead to 25, and Serra (14-6, 6-4) never trailed by less than 19 the rest of the way.
“I think this was our best game,” said senior guard Dorde Curcic.
Sensley led the Crusaders with 16 points and Hilman had 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists despite going just 3-for-8 at the line. But they were far from the lone contributors. Rencher scored another nine points, Curcic and Jordy McKenzie each scored eight and Nes Emeneke finished with six points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. With all the pieces clicking, Riordan is so deep that Nathan Tshamala, who once hit six 3-pointers in a quarter last season, didn’t see the floor until the second half.
Emeneke, a 6-foot-10 junior who sat out the first 11 games after transferring from Priory, played easily his best game of the year on Tuesday night. His presence led the Crusaders to a 43-25 rebounding advantage, and he didn’t just post up and camp out around the rim, showing off his ability to drive on a basket that made it 69-46.
“He’s determined to be a force on offense, and going up against a guy like Tommy Tofi in practice, you’re not gonna get more physical than that,” head coach Joey Curtin said.
McKenzie, an Eastern Washington commit who transferred from Pinole Valley, has evolved from a catch-and-shoot role into a valuable all-around guard. Curcic, who came to Riordan from Serbia, not only knocked down a pair of threes but provided length in the key on defense to stop Serra from getting to the hoop.
“I thought his energy was infectious. If he’s playing with high energy, he impacts the game,” Curtin said of Curcic. “He stretches the floor, he can handle it, he can put it on the deck, he can make passes, and defensively, he tips a lot of balls. He grabs rebounds for a guard, and he’s a matchup nightmare.”
Ballout scored a game-high 17 points for Serra, but he was the visitors’ lone bright spot.
“He was ready to go,” Serra head coach Chuck Rapp said. “He’s been playing really well. It’s fun to see his maturation and development as a player.”
“He made tough shots, and he’s developed his mid-range,” Curtin added. “He’s scoring at all three levels.”
Aside from Ballout and Angelo Ghattas’ eight points in the second half, there was little to celebrate for Serra as the Padres lost a fourth consecutive meeting to Riordan.
“I didn’t do a good job of getting them prepared. This one’s on me,” Rapp said. “I think the Mitty game maybe took something out of us, and I didn’t approach the next practice well. This is a tough team when they’re hitting shots. You try to pack it in and keep them off the dribble, and when they start hitting shots and you go out, it causes all kinds of problems.”
Riordan shot 9-for-21 (42.9%) from 3-point range in Tuesday’s win after going just 1-for-14 (7.1%) when the teams met at Serra on Jan. 9.
Bellarmine 73, Valley Christian 71
Sophomore Will Corbett scored 35 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 8.8 seconds left as the Bellarmine Bells beat Valley Christian for the first time since 2022.
Corbett had also given the Bells a 70-69 lead on a drive with 56.7 seconds left, but Tzahari Trevino’s drive put Valley Christian (10-10, 2-8 WCAL) on top with 34.7 left. Inbounding from under the basket with 10.4 seconds left, Noah Custodio found Corbett in the corner, and he sank the go-ahead shot. A long Warrior 3-point attempt missed high off the backboard, and a putback try at the buzzer rimmed out.
Bellarmine (9-11, 4-6) led by as much as 15 on a Corbett dunk with 4:34 to go in the third, only for the Warriors to close within nine by the end of the quarter on a banked-in Diego Martinez 3-pointer.
Martinez scored 32 to tie his career-high, including 14 points in the third. His putback of an airball with 1:20 remaining in the fourth quarter capped off a 9-0 run, giving the Warriors their first lead of the second half at 69-68. The visitors also got 11 points from Trevino and eight from Justin Hampton.
Bellarmine closed the first half on a 13-5 run to take a 38-30 lead and scored the first four points of the second half, but could never put the Warriors away. The hosts shot just 7-of-18 at the free throw line. They got 11 points from Nick Corbett, 10 from Custodio and eight from Julian Gospich.
Mitty 66, St. Francis 27
The Mitty Monarchs allowed a single point in the first quarter and led 32-5 at halftime in a rout at St. Francis. Mitty (15-5, 9-1 WCAL) got 15 points from Caeden Hutcherson, nine from Anthony Ventura and eight apiece from Nathan Noronha and Tyler Jones. Sophomore Evan Lee led St. Francis (3-17, 1-9) with seven points. The win marked Mitty’s 12th straight victory over the Lancers.