By Richard Paolinelli
MaxPreps.com
In any sport, there is no better time to earn a milestone victory than when playing a rival on the road.
Just ask the Riordan High School boys basketball team.
In a highly anticipated showdown against Archbishop Mitty, the Crusaders - the state's No. 6-ranked team - held off a late rally by the Monarchs for a 43-36 victory on Thursday in San Jose.
It was the 1,000th victory in the school's history and gave Riordan an important leg up in the Central Coast Section's West Catholic League.
Riordan's Rob Jones scored only six points, but dominated the game with 17 rebounds and five blocked shots.
The two teams will meet again on the Crusaders' home floor in San Francisco on Jan. 27. But for now, Riordan is 13-0 and 2-0 in league play, tied with St. Ignatius for first atop the league standings with the two teams set to meet for the first time on Jan. 16 in San Francisco.
Mitty fell to 8-4 overall and 1-1 in league play.
Streak Bites the Dust
Sacred Heart Prep's 78-game win streak came to an abrupt end on Wednesday as 7-1 center Gregory Somogyi blocked eight shots to help Woodside Priory defeat the Gators 45-38.
The winning spree was tied for the eighth-longest in state boys basketball history and the loss was the first suffered by the team since the 2001-02 campaign.
A transfer student from Hungary in his junior year, Somogyi led the way with 12 points and eight rebounds.
Woodside Priory followed up Wednesday's big win with a 38-26 victory over Pinewood on Friday to improve to 9-3 and 2-0 in the Private Schools Athletic League.
Lumpkins Big in Loss
Serra High's Stephen Lumpkins poured in 36 points and snatched 22 rebounds Friday night, but it wasn't enough to keep the Padres from falling 75-72 to St. Francis.
Serra (6-6, 0-2 WCAL) was a woeful 16-of-28 from the free throw line, negating Lumpkins' monster game.
Girls Basketball
In non-league action, a second-half rally carried Oceana to a 48-40 win over Half Moon Bay (7-7) after the Cougars had taken a 27-25 halftime lead. Burlingame (11-4) also rallied from an early deficit for a 56-51 win over Yosemite. Trish Malaspina led Burlingame with 24 points.
Girls Soccer
Westmoor, which has never experienced a winning season in girls soccer, moved to 8-2-1 on the season with a 2-0 win over Valley Christian.
Carswell Headed to USC
Milpitas High's Brandon Carswell has orally committed to Pac-10 powerhouse USC, foregoing nearby Cal and Arizona State, two schools that had been considered to be in the running to land the quarterback/cornerback.
Like USC, Milpitas features a Trojan as its mascot. Carswell led his Trojans to the CCS Large School crown this year.
Carswell figures to convert to wide receiver and punt returner, and could possibly see playing time as a freshman for USC in the fall.
Carswell finished his senior campaign with 3,207 yards and 33 touchdowns.