Crusader basketball team advances to second round of playoffs

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Juan Campos '22

At the end of the night, the score displayed a Riordan victory.

Brandon Vargas '20, Copy Editor

On Tuesday, March 3, the Archbishop Riordan Crusaders started off their Division 1 run in the CIF State 2020 Boys’ Basketball Championships with a spark. The Riordan Crusaders, led by star commit guards Bryce Monroe and Je’Lani Clark, defeated the Modesto Christian Crusaders, the 16th seed in the tournament, by a score of 82-51 in the Crusader Forum. Riordan outscored Modesto Christian in every quarter of play: 18-9 in the 1st quarter, 19-14 in the 2nd quarter, 23-12 in the 3rd quarter, and 22-16 in the 4th quarter. 

Riiny Riiny had himself a game, playing 17 minutes, scoring 21 total points, and getting 9 total rebounds. Riiny also shot 3-4 from the 3-point line, and made 7 of his 9 shots. Clark and Monroe each scored 15 points with 4 assists each, totaling 30 points and 8 assists from the dynamic backcourt duo. Riordan’s field goal percentage over the entire game averaged 46.2 percent, while Modesto Christian’s field goal percentage averaged 30.8 percent. 

In addition, Modesto shot 3-24 (about 12.5 percent) from beyond the 3-point line the entire game, whereas Riordan shot 6-21 (about 28.6 percent) from beyond the 3-point line the entire game. The field goal stats alone help describe how the Riordan Crusaders proved victorious over the Modesto Crusaders.

Moreover, Riordan scored 12 points off of 10 Modesto turnovers. Riordan also scored 42 points in the paint, more than double Modesto’s 20 points in the paint. Riordan also amounted 6 total steals, while Modesto left the game amounting no steals. Furthermore, Riordan had 14 offensive rebounds, more than triple Modesto’s 4 offensive boards. Riordan nearly doubled Modesto’s total rebounds 51-28.

Interestingly enough, Modesto’s current total team scoring average outscores Riordan’s total team scoring average 67.3-65.9. Riordan surpassed their average score, whereas Modesto fell below average. 

Chan Ngot ’20, who played 7 minutes and had 4 offensive rebounds, said that Riordan’s basketball team expected more from Modesto Christian. “We expected them to come play better than how they played,” Ngot stated. “They came out flat.” 

Ngot is ecstatic that the team won the first round of play. “After winning, it brought a relief to us,” he said. Ngot is excited about tonight’s game against Vanden, to which he says, “We have a good shot.”

Riordan has a current overall record of 22-5. They look to boost that record tonight, as they face the Vanden Vikings at the Crusader Forum at 7:00 p.m.  Vanden, ranked #9 in the pool, defeated their opponent by a score of 101-93 in four quarters of play in the first round of the tournament. Should Riordan win tonight, they will face the winner of 5 seed Menlo-Atherton vs. 4 seed De La Salle in the Regional Semifinal round of the tournament.