It wasn't quite as emphatic as the first time, but the
Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) boys basketball team and coach Tim Kennedy will gladly take it.
Connor Peterson, Mitty
File photo by Gary Jones
Balanced scoring and defense keyed the Monarchs' 61-50 home win Saturday over red-hot
Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco) (12-7, 5-4) in West Catholic Athletic League play.
The terrific senior guard duo of
Connor Peterson and
Matt McAndrews scored 14 points apiece for Mitty (16-3, 8-1), the Bay Area's No. 4 team, while teammates
John Rindfleisch and
Ben Kone added 12 and 10, respectively.
Mitty's active defense limited Riordan to 35 percent shooting (14 of 40), while breaking the Crusaders five game win streak.
Jiday Ugbaja had 23 points and
Chiefy Ugbaja 10 for Riordan, which lost to visiting Mitty 52-31 on Jan. 14. It didn't help Riordan's cause the Chiefy Ugbaja and starting forward
Zach Masoli each fouled out with more than five minutes to play.
Like this game, Mitty jumped out early to open a 26-16 halftime lead. The Monarchs increased the lead to 13, before eight straight Riordan points cut it to five.
But Rindfleisch and Peterson hit key free throws down the stretch to pull away and help Mitty maintain a one-game lead in the WCAL over St. Ignatius and Serra, both winners on Saturday.
"I was most please with our defense," Kennedy said. "They are an explosive offensive team and Jiday and Chiefy are real match-up problems for anyone. But we did a great job contesting shots.
"Unlike the first game, we were never comfortable with the lead. They kept chipping away, but we got it done again. This was an excellent win."
Trevor Dunbar, St. Ignatius
File photo by Dennis Stiff
had 29 points and
Julian Marcu 20 leading No. 7
St. Ignatius (San Francisco) (15-4, 7-2) to a 64-50 win at Valley Christian (6-13, 1-8). Sophomore
Arash Poorsina came off the bench to score eight for St. Ignatius, which plays Bellarmine, Riordan and Mitty next week. "We struggled at times," St. Ignatius coach Tim Reardon said. "But any win is a good win in the WCAL." … No. 6
Serra (San Mateo) (14-5, 7-2) got a career-high 35 points from 6-foot guard
Danny Mahoney in a 69-48 home win over St. Francis (11-8, 1-8). … Ninth-ranked and host
Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) (13-6, 5-4) scored a 66-53 win over Bellarmine (9-10, 2-7).
No. 1 Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland) 103, Sacramento 66 — Ivan Rabb had 24 points, 14 rebounds and seven dunks as the visiting Dragons (15-4) cemented its top ranking in Northern California against the region's No. 7 squad. … Sacramento (18-4) played without its big low-post presence, 6-7 sophomore Solomon Young, out for the season with a knee injury. … O'Dowd junior guard
Paris Austin scored 21 of his game-high 26 points in the first half.
Other games — Temidayo Yussuf had 16 points, while
Lamont Banks,
Jade' Smith and
Esteban Lovato had eight points apiece as No. 5
St. Joseph Notre Dame (Alameda) (19-5) defeated host Bentley-Lafayette 55-31. It was the third win over the week for the defending Northern California Division V championships. "We started a little slow," said coach Don Lippi, whose team defeated Pinole Valley late Friday night before Saturday's noon game. "Eventually we got it going. And we played solid defense throughout." … Irvine-bound
Jonathan Galloway had 19 points and
DeMar Dunn 12 as
Salesian (Richmond) (13-10) scored a 66-41 win at Sheldon-Sacramento (6-16), which got a game-high 21 from Matt Manning. … Unranked and host
Miramonte (Orinda) (13-7) upset No. 11 Campolindo-Moraga 69-68. Campolindo dropped to 15-6.
