St. Pius X-St. Matthias holds on in regional opener
DOWNEY » The job is not finished for the St. Pius X-St. Matthias. That was the team's mantra after junior guard Tyrone Riley and sophomore forward Douglas Langford combined for 34 points and 31 rebounds to power the Warriors to a 70-62 win at home against No. 11 seed Westchester in the first round of the CIF State Division II SoCal Regional playoffs Tuesday.
No. 6-seeded St. Pius X-St. Matthias (30-4) will play at No. 3 Orange Lutheran in the second round of the state playoffs today at 7 p.m. The Warriors won the CIF-SS Division 3AA championship Saturday and are on a 22-game winning streak.
Despite suffering a lower-body injury early in the game on a hard foul with 6:32 left in the first quarter, Riley's gritty and gutsy performance still led to a double-double with a team-high 19 points and 11 rebounds.
“My teammates actually helped me get through it,” Riley said. “Instead of me doing it to them, they were uplifting me, picking me up, saying they need me to win so hearing that made me work harder to push through what happened and my pain to help them get the win.”
Langford finished with 15 points and 20 rebounds.
The 6-foot-8 forward was extremely happy to win his first CIF State playoff game in his high school basketball career.
“It's very exciting. It's like getting over humps,” Langford said. “Everybody knows the type of level and competition that we're playing at and everyone knows now they need to step their game up because it's not a walk in the park. We really have to walk our path and play really really well to win.”
Sophomore guard Tariq Bridges scored six of his 13 points in the first quarter.
However, it was junior guard Tylon Williams who gave the Warriors a spark off the bench by diving on the court for loose balls, which truly impacted the game. Williams also made timely shots, scoring 17 points, including a buzzer-beating corner 3-pointer that put the Warriors up 20-13 at the end of the first quarter.
“That's my job, come off the bench, set the energy, and set the tone,” Williams said. “Play some defense, set the energy for the team... I'm a very physical guard. I like to play defense, and guard all the best guards, 94 feet. That's my energy and my game.”
It was a tight second quarter but St. Pius X-St. Matthias clung to a 3530 led halftime.
Williams had 10 points in the first half. Bridges had eight points. Riley had eight points and four rebounds. Langford was well on his way to his double-double with five points and 11 rebounds in the first two quarters.
A 3 by Bridges pushed the Warriors' lead to 38-30 early in the third quarter. Riley's floating runner at the buzzer put St. Pius X-St. Matthias up 49-40 at the end of the third quarter.
Riley began to find his rhythm and scored six points in the fourth quarter. Williams also scored seven of his 17 points in the fourth quarter. A fastbreak dunk by Westchester senior guard Jonathan Choyce, who finished with 20 points and five rebounds, cut St. Pius X-St. Matthias' led 64-55 with about two minutes to go but the Warriors held on for the win.
“It took some grit (to get this win),” said Warriors coach Donte Archie.
Westchester senior guard Michael Hill scored 14 points. Westchester senior guard Andrew Martin added 13 points and four rebounds.
Although the job is not finished, Riley is cherishing the journey.
“It means a lot to me. I'm one step closer to our goal. Our team goal is to win CIF State,” Riley explained. “We're taking it one game at a time, one day at a time.”