Known more as a long-range sniper last year, Crivello expanded his game to help lead a mostly youth-laden team back to a Sac-Joaquin Section championship game.

He scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half of the Division V final last Friday at UC Davis, doing so at a perfect 6-of-6 clip from the field and 3-of-3 on 3-pointers, as the top-seeded Knights rolled past No. 6 Futures 67-47 for their 13th SJS crown.  

Well, it didn’t all go his way. The senior guard had a tooth get chipped while taking a foul in the opening minutes, and he missed the ensuing free throws. Crivello was on the mark the rest of the way, hitting two running floaters in the first quarter and three 3s in the second quarter. The last of the 3s came in transition, as Jake Vander Veen picked up a steal hit Crivello for an open look at the buzzer.

In the second half, he became more of a distributor, finishing with four assists including one off dribble penetration to 6-foot-9 center Jace Beidleman for a dunk.

“Last year, my role was to spot up (for jump shots),” Crivello said after Ripon Christian defeated Bradshaw Christian in the semifinals last Tuesday, Feb. 20. “This year, I knew I may have to take over a little more as a senior. I have the experience to know when to go to the bucket. I just want to help the team any way I can.”

Crivello netted a game-high 19 points in the Knights’ 60-49 semifinal victory, scoring seven of them in the fourth quarter. He made a key conventional 3-point play that helped keep Bradshaw Christian at bay, coming up with a steal and taking it the other way for the and-1 layup.

“His ball handling and rim attack have gotten very good,” RC coach Mark Hofman said. “He’s able to get to the key now. When they take away your primary offense, what do you do? He has secondary offensive (skills). He worked on that, and now when they take his 3 away, he attacks the lane and is getting buckets that way, too — or dishing to Jace for dunks or to somebody else for open 3s.”