Boys basketball
In its first game since star guard King-Njhsanni Wilhite left for a Las Vegas prep academy last week, Archbishop Riordan opened West Catholic Athletic League play on Wednesday night with a 63-52 victory at St. Ignatius.
Riordan — ranked fifth by the Bay Area News Group — improved to 8-2.
St. Ignatius fell to 6-5.
“All things considered, I thought we played great,” Riordan coach Joe Curtin said. “We kept finding guys, the ball was moving and we had a really balanced scoring attack tonight.”
He added, “Everything I wanted to see, I saw tonight.”
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Andrew Hilman led the way with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Jasir Rencher, whom Curtin said will have a stronger role on the team after Wilhite’s departure, scored 11 points.
“He played great defense and really moved the ball well for us,” the coach said. “He handled it a bunch more than he is used to.”
Achillies Woodson, whom Curtin also is expecting to step up, had 11 points, too.
“I thought he was really like a calming force for us,” Curtin said. “He played solid defense, he was just getting the ball across and getting us into the right spot. I thought he was phenomenal.”
No. 6 Clayton Valley 68, College Park 62
Clayton Valley opened up Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division play with a win over host College Park. Jake King scored a career-high 33 points, Elijah Perryman had 16 points and James Moore added 11 points for the winning side. Clayton Valley, which stretched its win streak to four, improved to 12-2, 1-0. College Park fell 8-4, 0-1.
No. 12 St. Francis 77, Valley Christian 51
Anujan Tennathur (20 points) and Thomas Motil (18 points) led the way for St. Francis (8-2, 1-0) in its WCAL win over visiting Valley Christian. Pasha Goodrlarzi scored 18 points and Matthew Aboujudom had 10 points for Valley Christian (5-6, 0-1).
Mt. Pleasant 65, James Lick 21
Mt. Pleasant, playing at home, rolled past James Lick in a Blossom Valley Athletic League West Valley Division game. Dareuis Williams had 14 points and five steals and Elijah Pasibe scored 11 points for Mt. Pleasant, which improved to 4-6, 1-0.
Lick is 0-10, 0-1.
