CCS Open Division championship: Riordan boys basketball needs spectacular dunk to win 17th CIF title

Crusaders show off depth, determination and one big dunk while taking historic championship against brilliant effort from the Monarchs

SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA — With their 59-53 win over the Mitty Monarchs before a crowd of over 3,000 at Santa Clara University’s Leavey Center, the Riordan Crusaders entered elite company on Friday night, becoming just the second team in the 12-year history of the CCS Open Division to go a perfect 14-0 in WCAL play and follow it up by winning the Open crown.

It doesn’t hurt to be able to bring a Division I point guard off the bench.

Evansville commit Kaia Berridge, who averaged just three points per game and struggled throughout the season to the point that he stayed on the bench for the entirety of the Crusaders’ first meeting with Mitty on Jan. 16, scored nine crucial points, arguably making the two most important plays of the night and certainly making the most thrilling. 

Riordan celebrates its 17th CCS championship at Santa Clara University's Leavey Center / Photo: Greg Jungferman

“Sometimes it’s harder for those guys,” head coach Joey Curtin said of Berridge’s role as a reserve. “Everybody has to sacrifice part of their game, part of their self, for the greater good, and these guys just bought into it. There’s no ego. Everyone just wants to win.”

His 3-pointer with 3:49 left in the third put an end to a 7-0 Monarchs run, giving top-seeded Riordan (24-4) a 36-31 lead, and his baseline drive and one-handed poster dunk over a defender on a baseline drive with 2:32 left restored an eight-point lead and stunned a crowd made of a mix of Crusader supporters, Mitty fans and neutrals who simply wanted to see a good game.

“I was gonna shoot it, and then I caught it awkwardly. I was like, ‘I’m gonna see what I can do, go baseline,’” the New Zealander said of the dunk. “I was like, ‘alright, I’m just gonna dunk it.’ And then I saw number 4, and he jumped with me, and I was like, ‘alright, I just hope it goes in.’”

Regardless of rooting interest, the crowd certainly got its money’s worth. Though the Crusaders never gave up the lead after the opening four minutes, Mitty (21-7) never folded. Until John Tofi Jr.’s smooth drive and lay-in with 2:01 left in the game, the lead never reached double digits.

Andrew Hilman (2), Riordan / Photo: Greg Jungferman

“Definitely proud of the effort,” said Mitty head coach Tim Kennedy, who was also recognized as the CCS’ Honor Coach for the season. “We left it all on the floor.”

Even then, the Monarchs made one last rally, cutting the lead to 56-51 on three Nathan Noronha free throws with 33.5 left. But Jasir Rencher’s free throw with 30.6 left put the lead back to six, and Ryder Bush, the hero of Wednesday’s win over Serra, broke the press and scored off the glass for the final points of the night after one more Noronha layup.

“That’s what a championship game’s supposed to be like,” Curtin said. “They’re a tough team, they’re well-coached and they’ve got talent. Their guys are good.”

The second-seeded Monarchs, who fell into a 30-point hole when they lost 76-56 at Riordan on Feb. 6, showed why they belonged on the floor with the Crusaders. They had four different players finish in double figures, and limited Saint Mary’s commit Zion Sensley to 11 points,

though Curtin did reveal after the game that Sensley was questionable to even play after injuring his hip flexor on Wednesday.

Tyler Jones (3), Mitty / Photo: Greg Jungferman

Sophomore Caeden Hutcherson and UC Riverside commit each scored 13 to lead the Monarchs, while Noronha and San Diego commit Gavin Ripp scored 11 and grabbed seven rebounds. The battle in the post between Ripp and 6-foot-10 Riordan junior Nes Emeneke, who accumulated a game-high eight boards, was terrific theater for fans of old-school post play.

“We were able to clog it up a little bit, but they play with so much force and they’ve got so much size and length,” Kennedy said. “They’ve got a lot of weapons over there.”

Kennedy, who has led Mitty to a record five Open titles and eight championship game appearances since the tournament was introduced in the 2012-13 season, acknowledged this season’s Riordan team as one of the best he’s seen in the area.

“Their resume is pretty impressive,” he noted. “They can hit you in so many different ways. They’ve got a great program.”

Jasir Rencher with a big slam for Riordan / Photo: Greg Jungferman

Not even Aaron Gordon’s 2012-13 Mitty team went unscathed through WCAL play before winning the Open crown. The only other team to sweep WCAL play and follow it up with the Open title was the 2015-16 St. Francis squad. Like this year’s Riordan team, that group brought a future Division I point guard off the bench in Logan Johnson, who went on to play at Cincinnati and Saint Mary’s and is now in the NBA G League.

Cameroonian sophomore Andrew Hilman led the Crusaders with 16 points and pulled down seven rebounds, while Rencher, the only player to play on both Riordan’s 2022 and 2024 championship teams, made six of nine free throws in the fourth quarter to finish with 12.

“I’m not gonna lie, we’re more of a team. We've got more length and more size,” Rencher said when asked to compare the two title-winning squads. “But the thing about this team and that team is that we won the championship. There’s not really much of a difference.”D

Riordan wins historic undefeated WCAL season and CCS Open title the same season.  / Photo: Greg Jungferman

Photos below by Greg Jungferman

Photo: Greg Jungferman

File photo: Greg Jungferman

Photo: Greg Jungferman

Photo: Greg Jungferman