HONOLULU — The hard way is the only way for the trailblazing Mililani Trojans.
Mililani pulled out some late-game heroics to top Iolani in overtime, 45-39, and oust an Interscholastic League of Honolulu powerhouse for the second day in a row Friday night.
Now all the Oahu Interscholastic Association champion Trojans have to do for their school’s first HHSAA boys basketball championship is outlast ILH champ Saint Louis.
The second-seeded Trojans and top-seeded Crusaders meet for the Division I prize at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Blaisdell Arena. A school is either winning in its first appearance in a state final (Mililani) or for the first time since 1986 (Saint Louis).
After winning its first Oahu Interscholastic Association boys basketball title last week, Mililani’s reward was a quarterfinal matchup with two-time defending state champion Maryknoll on Thursday. The Trojans answered that test, 49-43.
Friday night ended with delirious Mililani fans chanting, “OIA! OIA!” and taking to the hardwood to join the players.
“It feels good, to go through two ILH teams just to get here,” Mililani coach Garrett Gabriel said. “We keep getting rewarded with a better ILH team. Now we got Saint Louis. I’m just worried about our gas tank, how much fuel we have. But these boys have been resilient all year.”
The teams met in the preseason, with Saint Louis pulling out a 63-61 win at Radford on Dec. 23. That’s the only blemish on the season for the Trojans as they’ve won 15 straight since.
The Trojans’ top wing defender, senior Jackson Mayo, was the offensive hero in the extra period Friday as, with the score tied at 37, he scored five straight points on a gutsy right-wing 3-pointer followed by a transition layup in the final two minutes.
Mayo was 0-for-7 from the field prior to that sequence.
“It’s just confidence that my coaches had in me to keep shooting. Shots were in and out all game,” Mayo said. “It was big plays that other teammates made the rest of the way that kept us there.”
After winning the OIA over Kailua last week, Mayo said he looked forward to seeing the best the ILH had to offer.
“It’s just awesome. It just shows we have the ability to play with any team,” he said after Friday’s win. “A lot of people talk that OIA can’t do this or that, but we’re just here to show that just because we’re public school doesn’t mean we can’t play with anybody. We’re going to be competitive and play with anyone who’s across our face, and we’re going to do the same thing tomorrow night.”
Guard J Marxen led the Trojans with 10 points, while forward Dylan Flanders was a factor up front with nine points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots.
Mililani is the first OIA school to make it to the final since Kahuku in 2018.
The Trojans nearly didn’t get there as the Raiders rallied from three points down late in regulation and had a chance to win it outright on JJ Mandaquit’s end-to-end drive in the final seconds, but his full-speed layup was too strong at the horn.
The talented freshman Mandaquit made some impressive shots off the dribble for a game-high 13 points but was held to 6-for-21 shooting overall (0-for-6 on 3s) with Mayo in his face much of the time.
“We just couldn’t make enough plays down the stretch,” said Iolani coach Ryan Hirata, who credited Mililani for making the game’s decisive plays.
Of Mandaquit’s drive, he said, “It was a great look. Unfortunately, we came up a little short on that, but it’s the look we want.”
Mililani got off to a fast start, escaping Iolani’s frequent halfcourt traps and finding open shooters to win the first quarter 16-8. The Raiders allowed fewer looks from there in drawing even at 27 going into the fourth quarter.
“We talked about it. This is big boy basketball,” Gabriel said of Iolani’s traps. “These guys are battle-tested every week in the ILH. This is an honor to play these teams, because we wanted to see where we stack up. We knew we were pretty good, but to get to this point, I’m very happy.”
Mililani made six 3s in 17 attempts (35.3%) to Iolani’s two in 20 attempts (10%).
In Friday’s first semifinal at Moanalua, ILH champ and top overall seed Saint Louis got a test in the form of Maui Interscholastic League champion Baldwin. The Bears led by a point at halftime and again by a point at the end of three quarters, only to see the Crusaders swipe the ball at key points in the fourth to win 40-32.
The Crusaders reached the state final for the first time since 2003, when they lost to one of Iolani’s dynastic teams under Dr. Mark Mugiishi.
“It wasn’t pretty because their defense was tremendous. We found a way, but the game could’ve gone either way,” Saint Louis coach Dan Hale said.
Saint Louis faced an imposing, skilled front line in Baldwin’s 6-foot-7 Quintan Akaka, 6-7 Hudson Yarbrough and 6-6 Avery Pauole. Behind them, the Bears made a strong bid to become the MIL’s first state finalist since Maui High in 1990.
“It’s just not something you see every day,” Hale said of that front line.
Akaka was particularly effective with 14 points on 7-for-11 shooting with 10 rebounds; the only thing that could stop him were leg cramps that kept him out for some of the second half.
But ball pressure was the Valley Isle team’s undoing as the Crusaders collected 11 steals among the Bears’ 24 turnovers, compared to 10 turnovers for the Crusaders.
“I’m just glad we could show that Maui boys can play,” Baldwin coach Cody Tesoro said after his school made its first appearance in the final four since 2012. “We play to the end … and try to do it the right way.”
The tide turned midway through the fourth on forward Aiva Arquette’s steal and one-handed slam for a 29-24 lead. After an Akaka basket, Cole Schmidt scored a three-point play on an inside pass from forward AJ Bianco for a significant lead of six points.
Bianco, the Crusaders’ football quarterback, sat most of the first half with two quick fouls but recovered to score 14 points on 5-for-10 shooting. At 6 feet 4, he was a steadying force.
“We knew Baldwin was going to come out to play,” Bianco said. “They have size that we haven’t seen all year. It presented us a lot of difficulty early but I thought we finished strong.”
On the Division II side, OIA champion Kaimuki and newcomer Maui Prep meet for the crown at 5 p.m. at the Blaisdell.
Kaimuki defeated its second ILH foe in two days with a 72-59 win over Hawaii Baptist Academy at Kalani, while Maui Prep, the MIL champ, knocked off top overall seed Kohala, 65-46.
Kaimuki is going for its third state title, and first since winning it all at the Division I level in 2007. It is Maui Prep’s first appearance in a state final.