2019-20 WCAL Hoops Wrap Up/2020-21 Outlook
- Thread starter jordan24
- Start date
- Junipero Serra @ Archbishop Mitty Winner: Serra - in an upset!
- Archbishop Riordan @ Saint Francis Winner: Riordan - in a close one
- Bellarmine @ Sacred Heart Cathedral Winner: Bellarmine - all business
- Valley Christian @ Saint Ignatius Winner: St. Ignatius - going away
Friday Night's Feb 14th Roundup
Final League Games - Tuesday Feb 18th (Tip-off 7:30pm)
- Serra 48 @ Mitty 68
- Mitty erases any doubt of a close game on Senior night. 5 Monarchs in double figures. Remain tied for first with Riordan and Bellarmine
- Riordan 69 @ St. Francis 62
- Welcome back Rob Vaihola! Riordan solves St. Francis' zone by feeding big Rob in the post as the Crusader guards look for him either on the block or dish offs. Nice offensive rebounding for putbacks by #31, too! Good games by Bryce and Jelani. Bryce heated up in the second half and both played good D on the Lancer guards. Kudos to Sean Quanico hitting from the outside and sealing the game at the FT line in the winding minutes. Crusaders hold serve tied for 1st heading to Senior night at the Forum next Tuesday against SHC. Congrats to the Riordan Frosh A's and B's as they are WCAL champions! Frosh A's complete an overall undefeated season! Frosh B’s had only 2 losses for the year.
- Bellarmine 81@ Sacred Heart Cathedral 51
- Bellarmine workmanlike win over the undersized Irish. Congrats to the Bells JVs for winning the JV title tonight!
- Valley Christian 65 @ St. Ignatius 61
- Congrats to the road Warriors in notching their first WCAL win this season! Happy for the team and Coach DeLuca!
- Bellarmine 10-3; 20-3
- Archbishop Mitty 10-3; 19-4
- Archbishop Riordan 10-3; 19-4
- Junipero Serra 8-5; 16-7
- Saint Francis 6-7; 14-9
- Sacred Heart Cathedral 4-9; 9-14
- Saint Ignatius 3-10; 8-15
- Valley Christian 1-12; 9-14
Final League Games - Tuesday Feb 18th (Tip-off 7:30pm)
- Mitty @ Valley Christian
- SHC @ Riordan
- Bellarmine @ St. Francis
- Serra @ St. Ignatius
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Good picks, Coach! Always tough playing in Mountain View - solid win.
The Lady Crusaders will score 15?! They might try to play in the WBAL like ND Belmont when they realized what they got themselves into...
Crickets on this thread! If Riordan had lost I’m sure 3-4 more pages would have been added full of doom and gloom, coaching tips, xfer rumors, etc. Lol! Enjoy the 3-day weekend and we’ll pick this back up Tuesday!
Honestly J, my brother surprised us and came in from Houston. He is one of Directors of Houston Hoops on the EYBL circuit. He caught his first Riordan game and I haven't given my assessment or anything about our team to him. He clearly after leaving our game made similar assessments about the team and not knowing 90 percent of the players and none of the coaches. It was very interesting to say the least. I thought last night for too much of the game we played their pace again. St.Francis dictated the pace and everytime we got up two possessions they called a time out. Good coaching. Good coaching move by Riordan by playing Rob down the stretch. It played big dividends in the game. I believe it would be more comments but not many attended last nights contest and we were not playing the top teams in Bellarmine or Mitty in which we lost.
I am glad that we got back in the winning column. Sf Chronicle was a little off on stats as well.
Bryce Monroe 18 points 4 assists, 1 turnover
Je lani Clark 17 points, 4 rebounds
Robert V 11 points, 7 rebounds
there's no conversation to have when they win like they are supposed to do. it is way more fun when they lose and we can discuss.
Coach, nice to have fam seeing Bryce play! I caught the stream as I spent Valentine's day with my loved ones. Will be interesting to hear from his perspective. This team has all the pieces in place and probably the highest ceiling of most of the NorCal teams. You learn from your losses and seek to improve. Enjoy the time with your Brother this weekend, Coach!
I didnt see the game, so Im never gonna comment on something I didnt see. However those rumors and lack of execution aint going away in a win vs a mediocre team. Good win on the road at an empty gym, but why did it take so long to pull away? Who you calling out anyways? Be better than that JXXIV!!! I'll leave it at that.
They know who they are. “Read the transcript”. Lol! Been on these boards long enough to not be negative anymore.
Theres nothing to be hootin and hollarin about because Riordan is supposed to win that game. Its funny how some want to question the whole system when the 3 league losses came down to either the last play of the game or the last minute of the game. Thats a toss up frankly and nobody/no team is perfect.
They will wrap up at least a share of the league title on Tuesday. Congrats on accomplishing one of their goals they set out.
They will wrap up at least a share of the league title on Tuesday. Congrats on accomplishing one of their goals they set out.
Not surprising on lack of comments, they were favored and took care of business. After being down at the half coach made the correct adjustments..
I'm right there with you having been posting since the Tofi/Kately era, but if you felt last nights performance should quiet critics and what not, we can agree to disagree. Because from what Ive been told from trusted observers at the game, it wasnt as if Riordan showcased themselves as the premier team to beat in the CCS Open. Simply they imposed their will over a less talented team. Still were exploited for lack of a zone offense the first half when they down. That said, like I mentioned, playing at that cracker jack box gym, remembering going to those dreaded games in the mid-80s, its good to get out of there with a W. However, the place was not imposing last night and atmosphere far different from that era. It is what it is, a win, but nothing Id say should silence any critic. If anything they should come out even more in force. Thats what happened in the 9 game winning streak, people got lost behind the smoke and mirrors. Mind you they are a good team, but a team still not playing near their potential.
Did they take care of business or simply was it the more talented team, just imposing their will. I think this could have been a game where they made a statement after losing 2 in a row. But thats my mind set, Im not just happy with Ws, I strive to see a well oiled machine, aesthetically pleasing, getting ready to hit its peak as they move onto the post-season.
Riordan's keys: Master the halfcourt at both ends. Limit own turnovers, take good shots, sprint back on defense, focus on each and every possession, think defense first and foremost (for goodness sake they have an athletic 7-foot kid to anchor the interior), gang rebound on the defensive end and be physical. Little things. They add up. They are loaded with individual talent. They can be dominant. Waiting to see it.
One DNA completely agree with you especially since you were there to see the run of two great years, one that fell short and one that didn’t. How one is supposed to comment into his game is mind boggling. No feed was posted, and like One DNA stated, should this game been close or should the team on paper who is far more superior make a statement
I'm right there with you as I have followed Crusader sports since I was a kid in the 70's, a 2nd generation Crusader who watched my cousin's football team take its first WCAL football title when I was 5 yrs old through the 80's dynasty, Kately/Tofi run up til now. It's easy to fondly remember that lone State title in 2002 led by Coach Forslund and 2 major D1 players, but Riordan shared the WCAL title with SHC that year, winning the regular season but losing in the WCAL tournament. And shared the WCAL title to Bellarmine in 2001. The Crusaders could have clinched it in 2002 but lost at Serra in the last game. The 2002 team didn't even take the CCS title, losing to SHC. Not too many complaints at the time, other than Riordan playing in the tough WCAL. That Forslund coached team that had Rob Jones and Jorge Camacho played Mitty tough and shared the league title, but came up short against Drew Gordon that had 3 other D1 players in the WCAL tourney. So, you could say Mitty's talent won out that year against Riordan. Just saying it's easier to point out faults and compare to previous teams and/or coaches. This team is not pretty at times, and there still some things that need to be worked out, but you cannot deny the talent and its losses have occurred in the last minute or last play other than their loss early in the season to Dublin. Again, I've seen lots of Crusader hoops over the years, just enjoy the ride and appreciate the kids' and coaches efforts.
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One caveat: Riordan will lose two outstanding D1 guards due to graduation. The window for a big-time CIF run may close quickly. So, yes, enjoy this particular ride for sure. Gotta make hay while the sun shines.
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The 2002 season was some of the best WCAL games between SH and Riordan ever. What SH figured out was if they played physical and with major speed, they could win. The games that Riordan lost were pretty damn physical. A lot of foul calls especially on the guards went uncalled. But Forslund knew one thing and said it best, if we get them again outside of the Bay Area we will beat them. Especially with a set of refs that haven’t seen either of us play and that is exactly what happened. The road thru Enterprise and Foothill(wonder whatever happened to that program) and then SH proved the team had it to take down a So Cal giant. Sure that giant had two future NBA sophomore stars, but it was a amazing win. Watching Marquise hurt blow by Darius Sanders was huge. Good fun, even the year losing to Bishop Montgomery was a great one as well.
I believe Coach Forslund is an assistant at Miramonte. Class act and a great coach, but even he was severely challenged in the tough WCAL.
Re Foothill, they took D3 State the following year 2003. Drew Hibbs was the coach. He’s a 2-time State Title coach and is now at Woodcreek in Roseville.
If you're insinuating the Irish get the calls, I beg to differ.
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What the heck is going on Ankle ? A quick and clear two line post without a Warriors dig ? As a life long Warriors fan going back to back to the days of Phil Smith I enjoy your digs as they always make me laugh. I can only hope you are taking All Star weekend off and your posts will return as I have grown accustomed too.
That was John Perez those days. Great defense but both teams shot around 20% during that title game.
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i have heard that line so many times... Life long warriors fan, followed by my dad had season tickets... then i check your myspace and they were posting about the kings or lakers....
SH which is my alum was very well coached. Odio and Jason Hill created fits. Once SH won the first game they knew they could win. However I recall watching tons of film, and it was a difficult game to ref period due to the speed and athleticism. However it was felt at the time if the two teams met again with a neutral staff that saw neither team play, getting up in someone’s you know what would have been a tad more closely watched.
Up until my son was born 5 years ago I attended all state games after 2002. Foothill continued on. I was just curious more on where the program is today. They were damn good in those years.
Thanks for the kind words Jordan24! A few corrections on some of the posts. Tofi was not a high D1 recruit. His offers were Portland, LMU and UTEP, maybe one other. CAL had lukewarm interest, but chose David Paris instead. UTEP where he attended was 5-22 previous season. Tofi got lucky as Billy Gillespie was named coach his Freshman year, later would coach @ Texas A & M and Kentucky. We lost @ Serra last regular season game in OT to finish 11-1. Should have been 12-0, but didn’t get it done. As always tough place to win!
Lost to SHC in tournament playoff 40-38 @ SI. So Co-champs that year as well and also in 2001.
Coaches in the WCAL that year:
SI Don Lippi
Serra Chuck Rapp
Bellarmine Pat Schneider
SHC John Perez, assts. Manny Nodar and Philippe Doherty Their record that year 30-4, not too shabby to say the least.
St. Francis Steve Filios, they lost to MLK from Riverside in State Finals 58-57. Another pretty good squad, lol.
Mitty Mike Willard
Riordan, myself, Coach Rich Buckner asst. coach and Peter Pollat asst. coach
We were just trying to match wits with these legends to say the least!
Teams that year were extremely talented to say the least.
2007, we were WCAL co-champs (asst. Coach Mike Molieri and asst. Coach Dwayne Fontana) with Mitty who had at least 5 D1 players plus a D1 6’7 water polo player. Gordon, Chiverton, Andoh, Caloiaro, Adams and I think one other. Lost to MATER Dei in state finals 2 years in a row.
Good luck to this year’s Crusaders going forward!
P.S. Btw ONE DNA always had kind words for our coaching prowess or lack thereof, LMAO.
Lost to SHC in tournament playoff 40-38 @ SI. So Co-champs that year as well and also in 2001.
Coaches in the WCAL that year:
SI Don Lippi
Serra Chuck Rapp
Bellarmine Pat Schneider
SHC John Perez, assts. Manny Nodar and Philippe Doherty Their record that year 30-4, not too shabby to say the least.
St. Francis Steve Filios, they lost to MLK from Riverside in State Finals 58-57. Another pretty good squad, lol.
Mitty Mike Willard
Riordan, myself, Coach Rich Buckner asst. coach and Peter Pollat asst. coach
We were just trying to match wits with these legends to say the least!
Teams that year were extremely talented to say the least.
2007, we were WCAL co-champs (asst. Coach Mike Molieri and asst. Coach Dwayne Fontana) with Mitty who had at least 5 D1 players plus a D1 6’7 water polo player. Gordon, Chiverton, Andoh, Caloiaro, Adams and I think one other. Lost to MATER Dei in state finals 2 years in a row.
Good luck to this year’s Crusaders going forward!
P.S. Btw ONE DNA always had kind words for our coaching prowess or lack thereof, LMAO.
Tofi, terrific HS player, excellent college player, even better professional player and great kid to have coached. Now taking his talents to Coaching ranks. Love watching his continued success. Didn’t want to short change his career.
That Riordan/Foothill game was one of the better road games Ive ever attended. The atmosphere that night and Riordan came in and imposed their will. It WAS PURE Hoopology!!! Those games at Enterprise, again, amazing atmosphere, saw those live and a Hoopology clinic. Unfortunately, Sac High and IHOP2's team got us in the Jones era, but again good rides where they played to or above their potential. Which is why this team is so polarizing. With the talent they have on this team, they have yet to play their potential, yet have a gaudy 19-4 or whatever record. Its maddening to see the offense vs a zone. Absolutely maddening. And to say theyre just hunting for better looks? Come on, there are knock down shooters on this team, 2 dynamic scorers and some good role players. I hope they can hit their stride. Close this out Tue nite on Sr nite and then go get a CCS title. Only time will tell.
Good gawd, this thread must have been getting some traction past the tunnels if it garnered a Hoopology post!!! Where are the post game meals in Orinda, Taverna or Casa Orinda? Those post game meals @ Joes of Westlake was where I got all my intel. I havent been invited to any, although I heard the current staff was preaching their propaganda at Boulevard one night after a game! LOL I always appreciated being let into your inner circle Doc! That said, I get its a different era, different type of athletes, but aesthetically pleasing basketball or basketball played to its highest level is still a sight to behold. Unfortunately were still hoping that we see that before this group leaves Riordan. #WeR
