CCS Open Division Championships: No. 7 Sacred Heart Cathedral topples No. 2 Archbishop Riordan

SAN FRANCISCO — The Fightin’ Irish made their intentions clear from the tip. Archbishop Riordan would not be getting anything easy.

No. 7 seeded Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep beat the defending CCS Open Division champion Crusaders, the No. 2 seed, for the first time this season. They beat them 58-49 on Friday night at Riordan to start this year’s Open Division Championships from the Poole B group.

The Fightin’ Irish learned from their mistakes in their two previous losses to their West Catholic Athletic League foe and tapped into their strengths defensively. That meant occupying the paint plenty and ramping up their aggression on the glass against a Riordan team with a size advantage.

“That was the goal,” Sacred Heart Cathedral coach Caesar Smith said. “They got a lot of points in transition our last game, that’s how they closed out our first game, so we wanted to make sure we limited those opportunities and make it more tough.”

The Crusaders’ empty possessions and turnovers helped Sacred Heart to a 14-9 lead after one quarter and a commanding 28-19 lead by halftime. Junior guard Fedrick Pernell paced his team in the first half with 12 first-half points, including two 3-pointers.

“That’s what we’ve been doing all year,” Smith said. “It was really just us locking in and making sure we’re doing what we do.”

The Fightin’ Irish defense came out even more stifling in the second half, forcing Riordan into taking shots from 3-point land on a night when the entire team’s shooting hand went cold. Even junior (and cousin of Golden State Warriors’ forward Jonathan Kuminga) Nathan Tshamala couldn’t find his stroke; in a win earlier this year, the 17-year-old hit six 3-pointers in four minutes.

No Crusader hit a 3-pointer until Zachary Jones, Andrew Hilman and Kaia Berridge hit a pair of 3s late in the fourth quarter, but it was too late for a hot hand to emerge. Riordan turned up the aggression in the third quarter, drew some fouls to slow the game down and cut into the lead.

Unable to score in the paint, they managed just three points in the third quarter and didn’t hit their first field goal until Jasir Rencher’s bucket with just under two minutes in the frame. Sacred Heart extended their lead to 34-22 heading into the fourth quarter.

Riordan freshman guard Hilman’s spectacular 13-point fourth quarter helped put Riordan within eight points of Sacred Heart at various points late in the game. But Sacred Heart junior guard Zemaury Erfe had all the answers, including a pair of 3-pointers that both extended their lead back to double-digits and ice the lead.

Efre finished with 12 points, including the pair of 3-pointers. Pernell finished with 14 points, 12 in the first half. Junior wing Jerry Mixon Jr. finished with 11 points.

Senior Rl Miller finished with nine points, including a first-quarter 3-pointer. As did senior Michael Manfreda, who went four-of-five from the free throw line.