SAN FRANCISCO — Game 1 ended on a buzzer beater. Game 2 took double overtime to decide a winner.
But in its third game against St. Ignatius this season, Archbishop Riordan made sure to leave no doubt – especially with a Central Coast Section Open Division title on the line.
After two hard-fought wins over St. Ignatius in the regular season, Riordan dominated the Wildcats in a 73-51 win at the University of San Francisco to earn its 19th section title. The Crusaders captured their third consecutive CCS Open Division crown and their fourth in five years.
Archbishop Riordan’ s JP Pihtovs (21) dunks the ball against St. Ignatius in the fourth quarter during the CCS Open Division boys championship at War Memorial Gymnasium in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)“It’s a dynasty,” Riordan coach Joey Curtin said. “It’s a culture. We got guys coming back and helping out and that’s what great programs do. I’m proud of our guys for kind of embracing that and making it their own.”
USF commits Andrew Hilman and JP Pihtovs each had 14 points to lead Riordan to a victory. Hilman finished with a double-double, adding 12 rebounds.
Junior guard Cole White had 13 points and senior DJ Armstrong had 10.
“This championship means a lot and it keeps going,” Pihtovs said. “Coach Joe is doing an amazing job. He keeps bringing in new players and he’s developing them like crazy. We’ll just keep stacking these championships.”
Archbishop Riordan’s J.P. Pihtovs (21) dunks the ball against St. Ignatius’ Jordan Alsaloom (35) and St. Ignatius’ Ty Landers (33) in the second quarter during the CCS Open Division boys championship at War Memorial Gymnasium in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)Despite the lopsided score, St. Ignatius was not at full strength.
Sophomore star Alex Moore has been out since the end of January with a torn ACL while sharpshooting guard Steele Labagh suffered a concussion that kept him out of the last two playoff games.
“We had to work so hard to get those open shots,” St. Ignatius coach Jason Greenfield said. “Part of that is depth of course, and their defense was good tonight.”
The first quarter ended like the last two games have with neither team able to build a solid advantage.
Riordan took a 27-20 advantage at halftime as Hilman started to find his groove. The wirey 6-foot-4 point guard dictated the pace and found ways to get his team involved to give Riordan a taste of momentum going into the second half.
Even as St. Ignatius hung tough, the Wildcats didn’t have enough to stop Riordan’s patented second-half run without its depth.
Archbishop Riordan’s Cole White (0) takes a shot against St. Ignatius’ Dominic McDonough (22) in the fourth quarter during the CCS Open Division boys championship at War Memorial Gymnasium in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)Riordan extended its halftime lead to nine points at the end of the third quarter, and made its game-winning push early in the fourth.
An 11-2 run from the Crusaders all but put the game away as the purple and gold’s lead ballooned to 18. The exclamation point came when Hilman threw an alley-oop pass to Pihtovs, who slammed down a dunk to ignite an already rowdy Riordan crowd.
“That was freaking amazing, I was telling the crowd to get off their feet and cheer for that,” Curtin said.
Archbishop Riordan’s Andrew Hilman (2) passes the ball against St. Ignatius’ Ty Landers (33) in the fourth quarter during the CCS Open Division boys championship at War Memorial Gymnasium in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)Riordan led by as much as 24 in the fourth, putting the game away and sealing a CCS Open championship win.
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“We haven’t lost to a NorCal team in two years,” Curtin said. “What are we even talking about? We’re 27-1 and our resume speaks for itself and so does our strength of schedule.”
St. Ignatius’ Anthony Dacquisto (14) takes a shot against Archbishop Riordan’s JP Pihtovs (21) in the third quarter during the CCS Open Division boys championship at War Memorial Gymnasium in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) Archbishop Riordan’s JP Pihtovs (21) celebrates against St. Ignatius in the fourth quarter during the CCS Open Division boys championship at War Memorial Gymnasium in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) St. Ignatius’ Noah Kirsch-Lopez (13) takes a shot against Archbishop Riordan’s J.P. Pihtovs (21) in the third quarter during the CCS Open Division boys championship at War Memorial Gymnasium in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) St. Ignatius’ Ty Landers (33) takes a shot against Archbishop Riordan’s J.P. Pihtovs (21) in the third quarter during the CCS Open Division boys championship at War Memorial Gymnasium in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) Archbishop Riordan celebrates winning against St. Ignatius during the CCS Open Division boys championship at War Memorial Gymnasium in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) Archbishop Riordan’s DJ Armstrong (1) takes a shot against St. Ignatius’ Raymond Whitley (5) in the second quarter during the CCS Open Division boys championship at War Memorial Gymnasium in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) St. Ignatius’ Jacob Santos (3) takes a shot against Archbishop Riordan’s Andre Amesquita-Carter (35) in the first quarter during the CCS Open Division boys championship at War Memorial Gymnasium in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) Archbishop Riordan’s J.P. Pihtovs (21) dunks the ball against St. Ignatius’ Jordan Alsaloom (35) and St. Ignatius’ Ty Landers (33) in the second quarter during the CCS Open Division boys championship at War Memorial Gymnasium in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)Hence then, the article about dynasty defined riordan dominates st ignatius for ccs open three peat was published today ( ) and is available on mercury news ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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