SAN FRANCISCO – Archbishop Riordan had five players on the floor against De La Salle in Tuesday’s NorCal Open Division boys basketball championship.
But in a stuffy, packed-to-capacity Crusader Forum in the heart of San Francisco, the hosts looked as if they had 10 defenders for most of their 52-40 victory over the Concord program.
After trailing 22-15 with 5:40 left in the second quarter, the Crusaders embarked on a 20-4 run over the next 11 minutes to blow the game open.
“We felt like we were not the most intense team in most of the first half, and our motto is to win the third quarter,” said center Nes Emeneke, who had three of his game-high four blocks in the third quarter.
Emeneke, who stands 6-foot-10, and 6-9 JP Pihtovs shut down the paint, choking off De La Salle’s driving lanes and forcing the Spartans into tough shots.
Riordan led 42-26 at the end of the run, and a year after they lost to Salesian in the Open final, the Crusaders went on to hoist the program’s first Open Division trophy.
“It’s been a long time coming,” coach Joey Curtin said. “We’ve been knocking on the door for a long time.”
Riordan’s John Tofi (13) drives on De La Salle’s Braddock Kjellesvig (32) in the NorCal Open Division basketball championship, Tuesday, March 11, 2025, at Archbishop Riordan High School in San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Up next is Roosevelt-Eastvale, which defeated powerhouse Notre Dame-Sherman Oaks 79-76 in the SoCal final. The teams will play Saturday night at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento for the state crown.
Andrew Hilman led Riordan with 15 points, and John Tofi gave the Crusaders a jolt of energy with 10 points. Oklahoma-bound Alec Blair, De La Salle’s all-time leading scorer, put in 16 in his final game as a Spartan, while David Patton scored 13 as De La Salle’s only other consistent scoring threat.
Texas A&M commit Jasir Rencher may have been quiet as a scorer, putting in just eight points, he set the tone for the entire team with his willingness to guard his fellow future SEC player in Blair.
“Before the game, I told the team, ‘I don’t care if I score two or four points,’“ Rencher said, ”I knew what my assignment was, and I did my assignment, and we won the game.”
Riordan led 15-11 after one quarter, and despite a big De La Salle run, the Crusaders trailed by just one point at halftime before pulling away in the second half.
There was no doubt the Bay Area powerhouses were the two best teams in NorCal.
De La Salle’s Alec Blair (33) is guarded by Riordan’s John Tofi (13) and JP Pihtovs in the NorCal Open Division basketball championship, Tuesday, March 11, 2025, at Archbishop Riordan High School in San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Riordan went undefeated in West Catholic Athletic League and Central Coast Section Open Division play, and then took down Salesian 64-57 in a heavily-anticipated regional semifinal on Saturday.
De La Salle captured the East Bay Athletic League and North Coast Section crowns to earn the No. 2 seed in NorCal Open. The Spartans then pulled away from Folsom in a gritty 47-38 victory over the weekend.
The teams had semi-recent history.
Back when Rencher and Blair were freshmen, Riordan defeated De La Salle 57-52 in the first round of the NorCal Open Division playoffs in 2022.
After so many close calls throughout the years, the Crusaders finally reached their first state title game since 2002.
Now Riordan will play against Roosevelt on Saturday at the Golden 1 Center in the final game of the season.
“You know, it took me four years, but we finally got it,” Rencher said. “But we’re not done.”
