Parity was expected in the WCAL this year, and on Wednesday night, it was more apparent than ever as the league title race has four teams within a game of each other with six games remaining, largely resulting from St. Francis’ 59-52 upset of top-ranked Riordan.
The Lancers have been a different team since the return of Maurice Wilmer and Oscar Pedraza, but for them to make up every bit of a 30-point defeat from their league-opening loss to the Crusaders would have been a lot to ask from just those two.
It wasn’t just Pedraza and Wilmer, though. Their presence helped St. Francis (11-7, 3-5 WCAL) completely revamp its offense, throwing new looks at the section’s top-ranked team with pinch post plays. Combine that with Riordan’s shooting difficulties against a Lancer zone that completely took away the middle of the floor, and it paved the way for Wilmer to score the go-ahead basket with 48 seconds left. The 10th-ranked Lancers made all six of their free throws in the final 32.4 seconds to seal the game as Riordan (13-5, 6-2) struggled to get going with star guard Je’Lani Clark slowed by an illness that he had been battling over the last few days.
That left even more weight on Bryce Monroe’s shoulders, and while he did lead all scorers with 18 points, those 18 came on a 5-of-19 performance from the field, including 0-for-8 on 3-pointers. Clark and Chimae Ugbaja each went 1-for-7. The one bright spot was Zach Quanico, who went 3-for-4 on threes to add nine points.
The Lancers got 17 points and 9 rebounds from Matteo Fontana while Roy Yuan, finally able to get open with the new-look offense, added 16, connecting on four of his six 3-point attempts. St. Francis won a third straight game despite missing Anthony Landphere for this one after he injured his groin on Monday. Time in the post was divided up between Fontana, Ryan Daly, Desai Lopez and Dominick Adzich.
No. 2 Mitty 82, No. 12 Sacred Heart Cathedral 54
A 28-point fourth quarter allowed the Monarchs to pull away for the road win and move back into a tie for first place with Riordan. Sacred Heart Cathedral (9-9, 2-6) trailed by eight at halftime and 13 at the start of the fourth but would get wiped away down the stretch.
Mitty (12-6, 6-2) got 19 points from Michael Mitchell, 18 points and 10 rebounds from Devan Sapp and 10 points from Owen Browne, while the Irish got 13 points from Elijah Flowers and 11 from Osin McCormack.
