Riordan back on court, beats Mitty after two weeks of tuberculosis turmoil
SAN JOSE — After two weeks away from the court, Archbishop Riordan was awfully happy to play a basketball game.
The Crusaders had been sidelined for two long weeks after their school was rocked by a trio of tuberculosis cases that emerged not long after the San Francisco school’s thrilling win over St. Ignatius at USF on Jan. 27.
Games were postponed, and eventually, some were forfeited in Riordan’s favor after St. Francis and Bellarmine elected not to play the Crusaders despite the San Francisco Department of Public Health signing off on their return to play late last week.
On Tuesday, Archbishop Mitty became the first West Catholic Athletic League team to agree to lace ‘em up with Riordan since the Crusaders were cleared. And Riordan showed the WCAL what it has been missing, winning on the road in San Jose 64-48.
“Oh, man, I almost forgot (how it feels),” Riordan coach Joey Curtin said. “I mean … we were subbing in six guys, and we’re a little rusty, I guess. I could tell my guys, the intensity, it was like almost an early season game. But it felt good just being out here and playing. And credit to Mitty, they’re a tough, tough team and a really great program, and it was nice to see those two teams battling it out.”
Riordan (19-1, 9-0) got off to a slow start offensively, managing 10 points in the first quarter and trailing 18-15 midway through the second.
But the Crusaders ripped off a quick 16-0 run to take control of the game and never let it go the rest of the way. The closest Mitty got was within five points late in the third quarter, and Riordan stretched it back out to 10 by the end of the frame before pulling away late in the fourth.
“The frustrating part is we keep playing tough teams and we give them a good run,” Mitty coach Tim Kennedy said. “And this sucks. It sucks that we come up short, and we’re not doing it as coaches, we’re not preparing them enough to get it done. We know we were right there, but we can’t get over the top right now. So we just got to keep cleaning up, keep getting better, and put together a whole game. Because right now, we’re putting together a couple nice quarters.”
As Riordan returned to the court after its long layoff, it took the Crusaders some time to settle in. Now they will have to buckle up for a run of five games in eight days to finish the regular season.
It started Tuesday at Mitty and will end next Tuesday at home against St. Ignatius, as the Crusaders make up multiple games that were postponed.
“I wish it wasn’t five games,” Curtin said. “We’ve done a four-game week already. We’ve done a three-game week already. I was looking forward to the two-game weeks leading up to the playoffs, just to still stay consistent, but have a little bit more rest in between games. But we’ve done it before. If anybody could do it, we could do it.”
Curtin was displeased with the forfeits last week, which took away precious game opportunities from his seniors especially. St. Francis and Bellarmine’s athletic directors did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Bay Area News Group regarding why their teams forfeited the boys varsity games.
“I said, ‘Why?’’ Curtin recalled. “I mean, in a weird way, it’s the ultimate compliment. I’ve never heard of that. But I just said, ‘Hey, we can only control what we can control, and that part of it is out of our control, so let’s just be ready for our moment. We’ll get back to it and just stay ready.’ And they did a great job. They were disappointed, but they stayed positive, and they were excited to play tonight.”
Curtin intimated that he did not believe the forfeits had anything to do with the tuberculosis cases at the school. He noted that none of his players have knowingly contracted the disease and tested negative for TB ahead of students returning to campus.
“Everyone’s healthy on the team,” Curtin said.
Kennedy didn’t want to speculate on the other schools’ motives for forfeiting but said there was no doubt Mitty would face Riordan as scheduled.
“We want to compete and play. So that was never in consideration,” Kennedy said. “We were excited to play them, and we were glad we had the opportunity. Once they got fully cleared by the health departments both of San Francisco and Santa Clara County, it was a full go. There was no risk.
“And we got information from doctors that we know, and they said there’s no issue, the risk was minimal. I feel bad for them not having to be able to get all those games. Now, they got to pump in a bunch of games this week.”
On the court, Andrew Hillman and JP Pihtovs co-led Riordan with 11 points. DJ Armstrong and CJ Ani each added 10.
Brady Clugage led all scorers for Mitty (13-9, 7-5) with 17 points.
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