Andrew Hilman silences St. Ignatius at the buzzer as Riordan wins WCAL thriller at USF

SAN FRANCISCO — The thing about pressure is it reveals who you are. 

And on Tuesday night in front of a packed house at War Memorial Gymnasium, drenched in noise and anticipation, Andrew Hilman revealed himself as someone who doesn’t ask for permission when the moment comes knocking. 

With Archbishop Riordan and St. Ignatius tied at 51 and time winding down, coach Joey Curtin asked his star player if he wanted a timeout to set up a play to win the game. Hilman waived it off. 

Instead, the 6-foot-4 point guard sliced through a crowd of bodies and floated off one leg — a Jordanesque rebuttal to the idea of fear — before splashing a jumper over two St. Ignatius defenders as the horn sounded. 

The ball fell clean, the gym erupted and Hilman pumped his fists like Jordan did in 89’. 

Hilman’s buzzer beater lifted Riordan past St. Ignatius 53-51 in a clash worthy of its billing between the No. 2 and No. 3 teams in the latest Bay Area News Group rankings. Hilman sealed a win on the same floor where he’ll suit up for USF next season. 

“Coach Curtin just believed in me. He asked me if I wanted a timeout and I just told him ‘I got you coach,’” Hilman said. “I just feel like I had to take that shot as a senior, the guy who has been leading the team. I just felt like I had to take the last shot.”

The drama was earned. 

St. Ignatius rallied from a 14-point, second-half deficit, tying the game with just over 30 seconds left as the rowdy crowd sensed a potential overtime upset. 

Curtin said he believed everyone wanted to see his team lose — so when Hilman delivered, Curtin turned to the opposing crowd and stacked his hands like bricks to signal Riordan was still on top. 

“It’s a big story if we lose. It’s not a big story if we take care of business,” Curtin said. “There’s levels to this. When you’re the hunted every game, people don’t realize how hard that is. When every game is that other team’s Super Bowl, people don’t understand the mental toughness it takes to rise to that occasion.” 

Hilman scored 11 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out three assists. JP Pihtovs scored a team-high 13 points to go along with nine rebounds while DJ Armstrong added 11 points. 

Holding a 12-point halftime lead, the Crusaders looked poised to break the game open early in the third quarter. A two-handed slam from Pihtovs gave Riordan a 35-21 advantage with all the momentum in their side. 

But there was no quit in the Wildcats, especially in a game as big as this. St. Ignatius finished the period on an 18-7 run to cut the Riordan lead to just three going into the fourth quarter. 

For most of the final eight minutes, St. Ignatius looked dominant. The Wildcats’ inside-out attack led by sophomore Alex Moore and senior Ty Landers punished the Crusaders. 

With just over a minute left, a layup from Noah Kirsch-Lopez put the Wildcats up one, giving St. Ignatius its first lead of the game since it was 3-2. 

But who else to close other than Hilman. 

On the next possession, Hilman converted a three-point play when he was fouled at the rim to give Riordan a two-point edge. 

A few seconds later, two free throws from St. Ignatius’ Raymond Whitley with 33 seconds left tied the game. 

But 33 seconds was just too much time for Hilman.

Calm and composed, Hilman walked the ball up the floor. He stayed patient and didn’t attack until eight seconds were on the clock. 

The senior called for a screen, but was immediately blitzed by three St. Ignatius defenders. But Hilman just split the defenders and got right to his spot at the top of the key to find the game-winning shot.

“I really never felt any pressure,” Hilman said. “I haven’t lost a game in the WCAL in two years and if I had lost tonight, I feel like those seniors would have laughed at me. … I just knew we weren’t going to lose this game.”

Riordan lit the gym on fire just two minutes into the game. 

Hilman took the opening tip, drove to the basket and soared through the air for a thunderous one-handed slam. Riordan proceeded to follow Hilman’s lead, recording three more dunks from that point to get the purple and yellow crowd rocking. 

The Crusaders continued their momentum into the second quarter, outscoring St. Ignatius 19-13 to take a 12-point lead into the halftime break. Hilman, Pihtovs and Armstrong combined to score 28 of Riordan’s 30 first-half points. 

St. Ignatius was held to its lowest point total of the season. Coach Jason Greenfield said he was happy to see his team fight back, but ultimately that fight needed to happen sooner. 

“This is kind of what I expected, that fight. I just wish we had started it earlier,” Greenfield said. “I just wish we didn’t spot him 12 in the first half and then start to play. We play four quarters like this, it’s a different feeling.” 

These two teams will play once more on Feb. 17 in the WCAL regular season finale.