January 28, 2007
Monarchs get redemption
Colin Chiverton
The road is a fickle mistress as Archbishop Mitty found out January 5 in a low-scoring 43-36 loss to league rival Riordan. But playing at home Saturday night in San Jose was a different story for the Monarchs.
The game turned in the third quarter when Mitty clamped down defensively on the Crusaders and attacked the basket with ferocity. Drew Gordon opened it with a ‘help’ block on Rob Jones that led to a to a Collin Chiverton jumper for two. Chiverton, besides demonstrating his usual long-range shooting prowess, went aggressively to the basket all night, scoring and drawing fouls.
The score was 38-29 in the third with 6:31 remaining.
Then, the Mitty 2-2-1 press bothered Riordan and aided in advancing the Monarch lead. It was 40-29, then 46-33, 50-36 and finally 52-36 at the end of three.
At the 5:00 mark in the final quarter, it was 62-42 when Chiverton hit a driving layup and momentarily hurt his hip when he tumbled to the floor. At the final buzzer, the scoreboard had Mitty on top 69-56.
Chiverton was ‘on’ all night and led the Monarch in scoring with 26 points. A 6-foot-6 long and live athlete, Chiverton was an impossible inside/outside matchup all night for Riordan.
The game was close for two quarters as Mitty was ahead by four, 15-11, at the conclusion of the first eight minutes. At the half, the Monarch added one to their lead, 30-25.
Riordan enoyed the most productive backcourt play Saturday night but such wasn’t enough to counter Mitty’s frontcourt advantage. Gordon finished below his usual average with but 10 points--however, he still had the greatest impact on the game. His shotblocking and his intimidation when he couldn’t get to a shot flummoxed Riordan all night. His defensive matchup, the Crusaders’ Jorge Camacho hesitated on a number of his shots and finished as a non-factor with just three points.
Riordan’s primary threat Rob Jones played tenaciously. He continually battled inside, displaying good footwork and his usual strength and jumping prowess but rarely got a good look at the basket. He was whistled for his second foul at 4:52 of the first quarter but remained in the game and displayed sound judgment defensively for the rest of the game even though he was matched up defensively with Gordon on the evening.
So, it’s a victory and a loss in home-and-home matchups of these West Catholic League powers so far this season. Hopefully, the next meeting will be on a neutral floor but even that probably won’t settle once and for all who is the better 2006-2007 squad. At least not for the rabid fans of each who were in overflow attendance Saturday night.
Riordan 11 14 12 19 -- 56
Mitty 15 15 23 16 -- 69
Riordan
Cannon 4-1-10
Carrico 2-2-8
Forslund 2-2-8
Walton 2-4-8
Jones 3-1-7
Shoffner 3-1-7
Camacho 1-1-3
Miguel 1-0-2
Bell 1-0-2
Seals 0-1-1
Totals 19-13=56
Mitty
Chiverton 9-6-26
Gordon 3-4-10
Sweat 3-2-9
Justice 4-1-9
Toth 1-4-6
Weber 0-3-3
Andoh 1-0-2
Wey 1-0-2
Mezzetti 1-0-2
Totals 23-20=69
Three-point goals: Riordan - Forslund 2, Carrico 2, Cannon Mitty - Chiverton 2, Sweat