High school basketball: Riordan boys craft a moment to remember in CCS Open title game

It was a highlight reel play at USF's War Memorial Gym for the present, the past and the future. 

Riordan senior point guard Andrew Hilman - leading a 2-on-1 fastbreak with 3:40 to play - jumped, put the ball between his legs from left hand to right and lobbed a pass perfectly at the rim for a sprinting, grinning JP Pihtovs, who threw down a ferocious dunk.

It was the perfect showtime moment in the Central Coast Section prep careers of the two future USF Dons in a 73-51 Open Division championship defeat of St. Ignatius on Friday night. 

"I've practiced it, but I wasn't planning on doing it," Hilman said. "It just kind of happened. It couldn't have been better." 

Said Pihtovs: "I couldn't believe he did it. He doesn't normally do that stuff but I love that he did. I just had to make sure I finished it." 

So did the Crusaders (27-1), who got 17 points, five blocks and seven rebounds from Pihtovs and 14 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists from Hilman. Riordan has won three straight Open Division titles and four of the past five.

"The dynasty is back," Riordan coach Joey Curtin said. "And that play was amazing. It was a snapshot of their career here." 

The Crusaders also got 13 points from Cole White and 10 from DJ Armstrong 10 while Emmanuel Ahamefule collected nine points and seven rebounds.

St. Ignatius, which got 15 points from Noah Kirsch-Lopez and 12 by Raymond Whitley, simply ran out of gas - and for good reason. The Wildcats (24-4) were missing three starters - 6-9 sophomore Alex Moore, 6-4 senior guard Andrew Ennis and 6-3 senior guard Steele Labagh - for a third straight game.

Mitty girls 90, Riordan 31: Also at USF, Iowa-bound and McDonald's All-American McKenna Woliczko finished her CCS career by making 13 of 15 shots, scoring 27 points and collecting four blocks in just 15 minutes of the most lopsided CCS Open title game win on record. The nation's No. 3 team, according to MaxPreps, forced 32 turnovers and limited Riordan (18-8) to three shots in the first quarter while racing to a 22-3 lead. The 6-2 Woliczko didn't score her first basket until Mitty was up 17-3. 

Maliya Hunter had 14 points, Tee McCarthy and Devin Cosgriff chipped in 10 points and 11 players overall scored for the Monarchs, who won their 34th CCS title and fifth Open crown. Nylah Dyson had 11 points and Chayana Collins and Tallyah Nasol combined for 18 for Riordan, ranked 14th in the state by MaxPreps.  

Woliczko, the Chronicle's Metro Player of the Year and WCAL MVP as a freshman and sophomore (she also won national Player of the Year awards those seasons at MaxPreps and High School on SI), sat out a calendar year after tearing her ACL in January of 2025. Since returning in January, she has averaged 21 points, 11 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks. 

Salesian-Richmond boys 51, Clayton Valley Charter-Concord 49: In the North Coast Section Open Division title game at San Leandro High School, Stanford-bound Elias Obenyah (13 points) made a spectacular steal, coast-to-coast drive and layup with 12.5 seconds left to give the top-seeded Pride (26-3) the lead en route to the win and a 12th section crown. Clayton Valley (25-4) had taken a 48-47 lead on a slam dunk from 6-6 senior Cannon Simpson (13 points) with 1:30 to go. After Obenyah's play, the Eagles missed two shots and Braylon Franklin made one of two free throws for the final margin. Carlton Perrilliat added 11 points and Asante Johnson eight, including two key 3-pointers, for the Pride. Chris Berry added 11 for the Eagles. 

Carondelet-Concord 50, San Ramon Valley-Danville 49: In the NCS Open title girls game at Dublin High School, Niylah Christopher had 15 points, Maleika Brown 13 and Layla Dixon 10 as the Cougars (26-5) broke an eight-game losing streak to their East Bay Athletic League rivals. Brown made back-to-back driving layups to give the Cougars the lead for good against the defending champs, whose 11-game winning streak was snapped despite 22 points from Ella Gunderson, the Chronicle's reigning Metro Player of the Year. It was the 16th NCS title for the Cougars, but first since 2022.

Oakland Tech boys 49, Oakland 47: In the Oakland Section title game at Merritt College, Brandon Woodards had 16 points and Saddiq Alarbesh 15 as the Wildcats (20-10) won their fifth straight title. Oakland (23-7), which beat Tech twice during the regular season, got 16 points and 11 rebounds from Romyn Waugh, who had to pick up the slack with freshman D'Ari Bruce out with a groin injury. Bruce was the Oakland Athletic League's Player of the Year and considered one of the top freshmen in the state. 

Oakland Tech girls 71, Oakland 37: Also at Merritt for the Oakland Section title, Jhai Johnson, the daughter of longtime NFL quarterback Josh Johnson, had 20 points and Terri'A Russell added 16 points for the top-seeded Bulldogs (18-10). 

More CCS boys: At Mission College-Santa Clara, freshman Jaden Hector had 15 points and Ilias Medios added 11 to lead Sacred Heart Cathedral (11-16) to its 14th CCS title and third in four years with a 57-39 Division 3 win over Soquel … In Division 1 at Santa Clara High, Pranavram Krishnan scored 22 of his game-high 24 points in the second half and Dylan Nguyen added 18 points overall as top-seed Milpitas (26-1) won its first CCS title since 1997 with a 49-36 win over win over Los Gatos (21-6), which got 10 points by Milos Grabovac. … In Division 4, Pat Bala had 19 points, Alex Osterloh 16 and Alberto de Bernardis 15 leading Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton (16-11) to its ninth CCS title with a 71-64 win over Half Moon Bay (16-11), which got a game-high 22 points from Gio Garduno-Martin. … Kasten Eggers had 32 points, including four 3-pointers, leading defending state champ Woodside Priory-Portola Valley (20-6) to a 66-58 Division 5 win over top-seeded Palma-Salinas (24-3), which got 27 points from Tai Suich. 

More CCS girls: Luisa Tava had 15 points leading top-seed Menlo-Atherton (21-5) to its sixth CCS crown, a 49-32 Division 1 victory over Los Gatos (20-7), which won last year's title game. … Anaya Bannerbie had 18 points and Valley Christian (12-15) won its sixth CCS crown with a 64-27 D2 win over Aragon-San Mateo (14-12). … Kelly Ho had 17 points leading top-seed Mills-Millbrae to their third CCS title in four years with a 35-30 Division 3 win over Santa Cruz. … Despite a combined 27 points from Sammy Kakala and Mika Cary, Notre Dame-Belmont (19-5) lost the  Division 4 title game to Scotts Valley (27-1), which got 22 points from Isabelle Jas. 

More NCS boys: In Division 1, GJ Hill-Thomas scored 25 of his 27 points in the second half, including the go-ahead mid-range jumper with 7.4 seconds left and then the icing on the cake, a driving layup after a Kaiden Gibbs steal as Bishop O'Dowd-Oakland won its 20th section crown with a 79-76 win over Granada-Livermore at San Leandro High School. Hill-Thomas was not only quiet in the first half, but missed six free throws, setting the tone for the Dragons (23-7), who finished 4-for-10 from the line while Granada (22-8) connected on 19 of 22. The Matadors, who led most of the way, were led by a 36-point, 17-rebound game from 6-7 junior Brandon Hahn and 18 points, four steals and six assists by freshman point guard Quaran Johnson. … Lucas Lau scored 24 points as top-seeded University won its eighth NCS crown and fifth since 2019 with an 81-69 Division 2 title game victory over St. Mary's-Berkeley, which got 18 points from Donovan Mikel. Sam Newmeyer added 14 and Trent Hawkins and Thomas Meeleib 11 each for University (27-5). … James Perry had 35 points, Amari Woodard 17 and Benjamin Lukacs 15 as Cornerstone Christian-Antioch (24-8) shocked top-seeded Branson-Ross 81-65 in the Division 3 title game at College of Marin. … Joseph Stanfield had 23 points to lead fourth-seeded Mission San Jose-Fremont (20-10) to its first NCS title with a 46-40 defeat of No. 2 Rancho Cotate-Rohnert Park at Montgomery-Santa Rosa in Division 4 play. This is only the team's third winning season over the past two decades.

More NCS girls: Freshmen Ezra Palec had 19 points and Emanuela William added 11, and sophomore Emma Bryant contributed 10 as top-seeded  Salesian (21-10) rolled to a 62-52 Division 2 win over Justin-Siena (17-9), which got 18 points from Lauren Keller. … Brooke Denler had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Hindi Copeland added 11 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocks, while Kitty White contributed 14 points as Redwood-Larkspur (25-6) won 57-42 over Heritage-Brentwood (23-7) in Division 1. … In Division 3, Maegan Eichenberger had 15 points and Ava Noga and Lorelei Keenan combined for 21 in leading Miramonte-Orinda to a 57-47 Division 3 win over Benicia, which got 13 points from Ella Lum. … Kate Spaulding had 20 points and Ava Gordon 10, leading Branson (20-12) to a 44-36 Division 4 win over Rancho Cotate (16-13), which got 18 points from Isabelle Ellison.

This article originally published at High school basketball: Riordan boys craft a moment to remember in CCS Open title game.