SAN FRANCISCO - Fourth-seeded St. Ignatius needed a win against visiting Valley Christian Monday night to keep its Open Division title hopes alive. And having already defeated the Warriors twice during the regular season and coming off a stunning win over Serra, the Wildcats rode that confidence to a 68-49 victory.
Up only eight points at halftime, the ‘Cats came into the second half with renewed energy and spirit. They opened the third quarter with a full court press, causing a world of problems for an already struggling Warrior offense. Led by junior center John Squire’s five blocks, St. Ignatius managed to dry up the easy baskets in the paint. They forced the VC offense to take a large amount of low-percentage shots, putting the game far out of reach for the Warriors.
“We just needed a little more energy on defense,” said SI head coach Jason Greenfield. “We needed to continue to push in transition, and we started to do that a little better in the second”
Aided by a rock solid defensive front, the SI offense began to thrive late in the third quarter. The ‘Cats showed just how dangerous their offense can be when they shoot the ball well, finding open men behind the arc to nearly double their lead in a matter of minutes. Consistency from behind the arc proved vital to their second half surge, forcing the Warrior defense to guard much more aggressively, freeing up the paint for easy buckets.
No one was more impactful than senior guard Giancarlo Toledo Rivera, as his game-high 24 points, including five shots from deep. Toledo Rivera found one of his best streaks of the season, making shots from all over the court, including a ridiculous logo three.
“He adds fire,” said Greenfield. “He adds offensive fire. When he’s making shots like that we’re pretty tough to guard. It was good to see him have a breakout game like that, we’re going to need it.”
Despite what ended up a lopsided score line, there were many positives for the Warriors. While the loss ends their bid for the CCS Open Division title, they displayed tremendous fight from beginning to end. Led by sophomore starter Tzahari Trevino’s 11 points, the Warriors played an excellent first quarter, but were simply outplayed in the ones that followed.
“We wanted to keep their offense on the outside as best we could,” said VC assistant coach Andrew Snelgrove. “We were able to keep them at bay to start, we really stepped up defensively. But then they started hitting threes, and from there it was tough."
With only four seniors on the roster, Valley Christian can look toward the future with plenty of excitement. They’ll close out their season at Serra Wednesday at 7 pm.
Meanwhile the Wildcats will have the daunting task of traveling down to San Jose to face top-seeded Archbishop Mitty in what amounts to a CCS Open semifinal matchup. After falling to the Monarchs twice during the regular season, the ‘Cats have a point to prove, but they’ll need flawless execution to top the Central Coast Section’s best team.
Mitty is coming off thumping victories in both its previous CCS encounters, and will be backed to defend their crown. The winner of the highly anticipated matchup will advance to the CCS Final this Friday in Santa Cruz.
