High School

California star channels Michael Jordan; Double-clutch buzzer-beater sinks rival

At his future college gym, Riordan's Andrew Hilman hits improbable midrange jumper at USF to extend West Catholic Athletic League win streak to 35 games with wild win over St. Ignatius

Mitch Stephens

USF-signee Andrew Hilman goes up over two defenders to make a game-winning shot for Riordan over Riordan at War Memorial Gym on the campus of USF.
USF-signee Andrew Hilman goes up over two defenders to make a game-winning shot for Riordan over Riordan at War Memorial Gym on the campus of USF. / Photo by Mitch Stephens

SAN FRANCISCO — He started the raucous evening with an emphatic drive to the basket and a thunderous two-hand dunk.

He ended it with an impossible double pump, buzzer-beating game-winning jumper with two defenders draped all over him.

This was Andrew Hilman's night at Andrew Hilman's future.

The chiseled 6-foot-4 senior guard and fourth-year starter for the boys basketball team at Archbishop Riordan of San Francisco, the state's fourth-ranked team in California, sent the capacity crowd of 3,500 at USF's historic War Memorial Gym in either a celebratory frenzy or utter dispair with a shot they'll be talking about for year's to come in a 53-51 humdinger of a high school basketball victory over cross-town rival St. Ignatius Tuesday night.

High school boys basketball California
Riordan senior Andrew Hilman was all smiles after his team's breathtaking 53-51 win over St. Ignatius at USF on Tuesday / Photo by Mitch Stephens

Hilman scored a game-high 16 points including his team's final five points in the last 1 minutes, 15 seconds in the gym he's signed to play his college basketball.

Riordan coach Joey Curtin didn't see Hilman manifesting his college career at USF. He saw his star guard channeling perhaps the game's greatest players in one of his grandest moments.

"It totally reminded me of Michael Jordan over (Craig) Ehlo," Curtin said of shot that eliminated the Cleveland Caviliers in the 1989 playoffs. "The shot, the celebration, all of it."

With due respect, Jordan just beat Elho off the dribble and hung in the air as the Cavs guard flew by.

Hilman dribbled the ball the for 25 seconds near midcourt before beating four defenders en route to the first buzzer-beater of his storied prep career.

He first beat a blitzing Andrew Ennis and Raymond Whitley off the dribble while zigging left well beyond the top of the key. He then zagged right to reach the foul line, where he met up with 6-5 Noah Kirsch-Lopez and 6-9 Alex Moore, who each took a swipe at the ball in midair.

High school boys basketball San Francisco
Riordan High School fourth-year starting PG Andrew Hilman started his dribble with 33 seconds left and ended it at the buzzer. / Photo by Mitch Stephens

Off one foot (his left) Hilman hung in in the air — similar to Jordan — delaying his shot a split second. He let it fly miliseconds before touching the ground, and just as it swished through the cylinder the buzzer went off, setting off a combination of cheers, groans and screams.

"It seemed to last forever," Hilman said.

Hilman landed awkwardly, fell backward and while on his backside continued the Jordan channel, pumping his arms once, twice, before 6-9 fellow senior JP Pihtovs was the first of Crusaders to dogpile on the popular exchange student from Cameroon.

It was the 16th win in 17 games for Riordan and its 35th straight win in West Catholic Athletic League play over three seasons and 7-0 this year. This one was no doubt the toughest. St. Ignatius dropped to 15-2 and 6-1.

High school boys basketball California
Moments after Hilman made the game-winning shot he fell to the hardwood. / Photo by Mitch Stephens

"Coach wanted to call timeout but I told him 'I got you. This is my house,' " Hilman said. "I had to do it. My teammates trusted me. So I went for it."

Ironically, Hilman has always been a pass first point guard. Unselfish to a fault, but almost always making the right play for teammates.

"But nothing was going to stop him on that last drive," Curtin said. "While he was dribbling near midcourt, I had one timeout and I told him I was going to take it. He told me no, 'I got this.' And you know what? He earned it. That was his moment. No one has worked harder than him. I've coached a lot of great players, many who have worked super hard, who are gym rats. But he's one of one. He's just different. He's wired different.

"The fact he did it here where he's going to play college basketball just made it sweet. It was poetic."

It wasn't exactly Robert Frost to the resilient Wildcats, who made a gallant comeback from a seemingly insurmountable 30-18 halftime deficit. When the Crusaders started the second half with five quick points, capped with one of four dunks by high-flying Pihtovs, it was 35-21 and it looked like the big crowd might make an early exit.

The Wildcats started clicking as they have all season, mixing in the inside work of their bigs with four 3s, one each by Shawn Boquiren, Steele LaBagh, Moore and Andrew Ennis, who also swished five straight free throws.

high school boys basketball California
The Riordan Crusaders mob Andrew Hilman after his game winning shot beat St. Ignatius 53-51 at USF on Tuesday / Photo by Mitch Stephens

Remarkably, they cut the lead to 40-39, before Hilman made one of his patented hustle plays, somehow rebounding his own blown fastbreak layup and laying it in, giving the Crusadersa 42-39 lead heading into the fourth.

"I was expecting that fight," St. Ignatius coach Jason Greenfield said. "I just wish we had started it earlier."

It didn't seem to matter when the Wildcats started the fourth on an 8-3 run, capped by a putback from Raymond Whitley, a tough inside bucket from Kirsch-Lopez and two more free throws by Ennis. That gave the Wildcats their first lead of 47-45 since it led 3-2.

"(St. Ignatius) is a good team and we knew they'd come back," Hilman said. "We knew they had fight. But so did we."

The final two minutes were epic, starting with a 3-pointer from Riordan's instant offense Gabriellus Kerys — his third of the second half — to give Riordan a 48-47 lead. Kirsch-Lopez rebounded his own missed three from the top of the key, and powered it home, giving St. Ignatius a 49-48 lead with 1:30 left.

Hilman responded immendiately with an and-one to go up 51-49 with 1:16 remaining.

The Wildcats missed a three, Riordan's Cole White rebounded, fell in a heap but before the referees called a traveling, Hilman alertly called timeout. The smart play was immediately negated, because Riordan's ensuing inbound pass in the backcourt was intercepted by Whitley, who was fouled shooting.

He drilled two free throws with 33.7 seconds left, setting up Hilman's heroics. Asked if there was any way he was passing the ball, Hilman smiled broadly.

"I knew if I made it we'd all be happy," he said. "I'm a senior now. I felt it is my role as a senior to make that play. They knew I was going to take it because I work on it all the time in practice. We all trust each other. We all love each other and basketball."

Was it the toughest shot he ever made?

Hilman smiled even broader.

"Maybe, but probably not in a spot like that or to beat the buzzer," he said. "It's just all great. It was a great night."

The teams will meet up again Feb. 17 at Riordan to close the regular season.

Riordan girls 51, St. Ignatius 39

The inside work early by 6-2 senior Zion McGuire (12 first-half points) and the overall quickness and end-to-end play of Nylah Dyson (10 points) and Trenia Dunbar (11 points) keyed the largely wire-to-wire win by the Crusaders (12-5, 4-1 WCAL), who beat the Wildcats (15-4, 3-2) for the fourth straight time over two seasons, including 59-50 earlier this season at the LadyCat Tournament championship game.

Dyson and Dunbar combined on three 3-pointers in the second half, but it wasn't until a 3-point by Mafalda Fontan Rodriguez late in the fourth quarter that really sealed it.

Riordan erased an 8-5 deficit with a 21-2 run to take absolute control. McGuire did most of the damage in that run with four buckets, including two putbacks. Ariah Thompson also had a rebound bucket.

It helped to offset the mammoth efforts of St. Ignatius senior Hayley McGee, who scored a game-high 21 points, including 13 in the second half. Lulu Giometti added 10 points.

Riordan coach Will Watkins said his team's defensive effort keyed the win. They held the Wildcats 21 points below their season average.

'We've been really growing defensively," Watkins said. "Obviously we're very familiar with the SI team, so we spent a lot of work on defending their initial actions and their backcuts. We did a great job exectuting the game plan."

Watkins said he has the advantage of coaching many of the St. Ignatius players in club ball during the offseason. One of them wasn't McGee.

"I wish I had, she's a heck of a player," he said.

McGee said: "We didn't play our best and their size and defense really gave us problems. We were playing really well coming into the game with wins against Pinewood and St. Francis last week. Our season doesn't stop here. I'd rather us not play our best at this point in the season than at the end."

Published
Mitch Stephens
MITCH STEPHENS

Mitch Stephens is a senior editor at SBLive Sports for California, a state he's covered high school sports since 1984. He won multiple CNPA and CPSWA writing awards with the Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Chronicle and MaxPreps.com before joining the SBLive staff in 2022. He's covered the beat nationally since 2007, profiling such athletes as Derrick Henry, Paige Bueckers, Patrick Mahomes, Sabrina Ionescu, Jayson Tatum, Chiney Ogwumike, Jeremy Lin and Najee Harris as preps. You can reach him at mitch@scorebooklive.com.

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