SAN FRANCISCO — As Lee Hubbard goes, so do the Riordan Crusaders.
In the second half on Tuesday night, he took flight, and his team started soaring.
The senior guard dished out five of his game-high seven assists and scored 11 of his 13 points across the final two quarters as the Crusaders turned a six-point halftime lead into a convincing 77-53 win over the shorthanded Bellarmine Bells in a WCAL Tournament semifinal.
With the win, Riordan will host Mitty in the championship game at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
“Lee just has to be our best defender and embrace that role,” Riordan head coach Joey Curtin said. “When he does, his offense comes with it and that fuels the rest of the team.”
Leading just 30-24 at the half behind only two points and a pair of assists from Hubbard, Riordan (12-2) dug in to start the third quarter behind the senior guard, who dished off an assist on a King-Jhsanni Wilhite three before knocking down one of his own. Hubbard also assisted on an NBA-range 3-pointer by freshman Zion Sensley to open up a 13-point lead and force a Bellarmine timeout before Sensley returned the favor to stretch the lead to 48-32, sparking an 8-2 run to end the quarter.
Sensley scored 14 on the night, including a ridiculous alley-oop from fellow freshman Quinton Bundage midway through the fourth, and he grabbed six rebounds. His elevated play has been a cornerstone of Riordan’s success during the current 10-game winning streak.
“I think he just got used to the speed and the skill of the varsity players,” Curtin said. “A year ago, he was playing CYO. When you start matching up against the Campolindos and the Bellarmines and these really good teams, you’re gonna sink or swim, and he’s definitely swimming.”
Bundage, called up from JV before the fourth game of the season, scored eight points of his own, all in the fourth. The Crusaders had four players in double figures, with the post tandem of Robert Vaihola and Mor Seck each recording double-doubles. Vaihola had an uncharacteristically difficult night shooting from the field but still managed to score 17 behind a 9-of-9 performance at the free throw line and grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds. Not to be outdone, Seck also scored 17 and racked up 14 boards.
Josh Wolf-Bloom had a double-double for Bellarmine (7-6), with 12 points and 10 rebounds, but the absences of point guard Theoren Brouillette and Cornell-bound center Ryan Kiachian were too much to overcome. Brouillette was seven miles away, leading Bellarmine’s volleyball team to a WCAL semifinal victory over Sacred Heart Cathedral, while Kiachian reaggravated his shoulder injury during warmups and was unable to play.
“It was disorienting,” head coach Patrick Schneider said of Kiachian’s injury. “We knew where everyone was gonna be starting, and then they weren’t, and it changed how we defended them. It put us on our heels. We probably were going to zone them at some point, but we weren’t going to start in the zone.”
Zone defenses were the Crusaders’ undoing in the 2019-20 season, but the current crew at Riordan has no such issues. The hosts knocked down eight 3-pointers in the second half, with Hubbard sinking three and Bundage connecting on a pair
“I think the guards just get to the right spots,” Curtin said.
Riordan jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead and forced Schneider to burn a pair of timeouts within the first five minutes, but the Bells rallied to tie the score at 19 on a Cole Despie up-and-under. They went into the half trailing by just six despite Seck and Vaihola nearly posting double-doubles within the first two quarters. Zach Turner, who was slated to start at forward and slid over to center in Kiachian’s absence, was a huge part of the efforts to keep the game close, scoring all 12 of his points in the first half as he connected on three 3-pointers.
“We’re down not just two starters, one of our backup centers was hurt, Enow Akem had food poisoning and even one of our JV callups hurt his knee in their last game,” Schneider said. “And then to fall down like we did, similar how the Dublin game started, we still battled back to tie it. We just didn’t have enough freshness playing back-to-back games with all of the injuries that we had. I’m still proud of how the guys battled back.”
The Bells got to within five with 6:39 left in the third quarter on a pair of Wolf-Bloom free throws but trailed by double digits for almost the entire rest of the game, as Riordan quickly restored a 10-point lead on Hubbard’s first 3-pointer and a Seck putback. The margin reached 24 in the fourth quarter when Schneider was assessed a technical foul for the first time in at least five years after chiding the refs for failing to realize Riordan had six players on the floor for a full 20 seconds before one of them scrambled to the bench with the ball still live. A Mark Barer 3-pointer gave the Crusaders their largest lead at 31 before Bellarmine scored the final seven points behind reserves Chris Jaeb, who scored all six of his points in the final quarter, and Tariq Weiser.
“They hit eight 3-pointers in the second half and we lost by 24,” Schneider said. “They made a lot of shots, but our guys just never stopped battling.”
South #1 Mitty 60, North #2 St. Ignatius 52
St. Ignatius (11-6) put up a valiant effort in Fien Gymnasium, leading by a point at halftime and taking a four-point lead early in the fourth, but Mitty (12-2) closed the game on a 17-5 run to ensure that the top seeds would hold up and advance to the WCAL Championship. The Monarchs beat SI at their own game with balanced scoring, getting 18 points from Derek Sangster, 15 from Arrish Bhandal, nine from Aidan Burke and eight from Nigel Burris. Sean Quanico scored a game-high 21 for the Wildcats and sophomore John Squire added 11.
Mitty, SI girls advance
The top seeds also held up on the girls side as Mitty raced to another running clock win, 79-24 over St. Francis, with six different Monarchs tallying at least seven points. Freshman Morgan Cheli scored a game-high 13 while sophomore Jamaya Perry and Olivia Williams each added 12. St. Ignatius closed the third quarter on a 16-1 run to take a commanding 22-point lead and went on to win 65-52 over Valley Christian to secure a third shot at the Monarchs. Mitty won the first two meetings, 66-40 in San Francisco and 98-42 in San Jose.
Wednesday’s schedule
Boys Championship: South #1 Mitty (13-1) @ North #1 Riordan (12-2), 7 p.m.
Girls Championship: North #1 St. Ignatius (12-3) @ South #1 Mitty (10-1), 7 p.m.
