It's no secret the Archbishop Riordan basketball team didn't get off to the start it wanted in West Catholic Athletic League play.
The Crusaders, once the cream of the league, began a tepid 4-7. But now there are signs of life on Phelan Avenue.
Thursday night Riordan won its second consecutive game, 61-54, against City foe Sacred Heart Cathedral at the Crusader Forum. That comes on the heels of last week's pulse-pounding victory against Bellarmine Prep, achieved on junior guard Frankie Ferrari's late 3-pointer.
The victory also eased painful memories of a one-point loss to the Irish earlier in the season on a late basket by Liam O'Reilly.
"We were able to contain Khalil James this time around," Riordan coach Rich Buckner said. "Last time he scored about 20 points off us, but we held him to eight tonight. We emphasized keeping him out of the paint."
It's taken Riordan (15-8, 6-7) time to mesh after having to wait until Jan. 1 to get five transfers eligible. Those players were added to a roster that already numbered 13. And Buckner uses a healthy 15 in his rotation.
"I'm not sure where we are at this point," said Buckner, a former Riordan star. "We're kind of helter-skelter. We have glimpses of greatness and then we'll get sloppy. But we have leaders starting to emerge and huddling the players on the floor."
One who stepped to the fore for the Crusaders was forward Christian Hernandez (10 points, 12 rebounds) whose two put-backs early in the third quarter stretched a modest Crusader lead to 40-30.
Hernandez was active around the basket, battling for offense rebounds and second-chance shots.
"Christian had an excellent game tonight," Buckner said. "He was cleaning up the boards, getting loose balls and put-backs. I don't know where we would have been without him."
Sacred Heart Cathedral (15-8, 8-5) trailed Riordan 47-40 after three quarters and outscored the Crusaders 5-3 to start the fourth. But then hit a two-minute dry spell that left the Irish trailing 53-45 with 3:58 left.
The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes before Chiefy Ugbaja scored his only basket with 1:31 left on a resounding dunk to balloon the Crusaders' lead to 10, bringing the Riordan faithful to their feet and removing all suspense.
Ferrari, the transfer from Burlingame, led Riordan with 13 points including three 3-pointers. Shaquille Cooper scored nine points on a trio of threes for the Crusaders and Bobby Arenas added eight points.
Riordan made 10 shots from beyond the arc to four for SHC.
David Parsons and Herman Pratt each had 13 points for the Irish and DeOndre Otis and Khalil James added 10 and eight points, respectively.
Riordan out-rebounded SHC 36-24.
Sacred Heart Cathedral is at Mitty on Saturday night as the Monarchs try to clinch an outright round-robin title. Riordan hosts St. Francis.
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John Murphy can be reached at jmurphy@prep2prep.com.
