HONOLULU — Saint Louis forward Pupu Sepulona fired up a 3 over a much larger defender, watched it bank in, and unapologetically raised his hands with three fingers raised on each as he turned back downcourt. Every local player and spectator in the Iolani Gym emptied their lungs in endorsement.
Montverde Academy of Florida, the reigning back-to-back national champion, had little trouble in dispatching the reigning Hawaii state champion Crusaders, 92-49, on the opening night of the Iolani Classic.
But the precocious Sepulona and his young teammates, backups on last year’s title team, had fun in the process. Sepulona, a husky 6-3, 220-pound sophomore forward, banged away for a game-high 27 points, earning the respect of the Eagles and their roster of elite Division I prospects.
“They were just telling me they thought I was a football player, like my size and how I look,” Sepulona said afterward. “I just told them basketball is my sport. Even though I go to Saint Louis, even though we’re a football school. I came to Saint Louis for basketball reasons.”
Eagles forward Asa Newell, a five-star prospect in the class of 2024, gave Saint Louis credit for playing together after he scored 12 points, including a couple of breakaway slams off of his team’s game-long full-court pressure.
“Pupu, that’s my guy. I need to get on his weight program. He’s strong,” Newell said. “That’s my guy, yes, sir.”
Montverde, a semi-regular participant at the Iolani Classic in recent years, has won six GEICO National Championships since 2013. The Eagles are ranked among the top teams in the country in various polls.
They have five players ranked in the ESPN 100 for 2023: forward Sean Stewart (No. 7, Duke); forward Kwame Evans, (No. 12, Oregon); guard Chris Johnson (No. 32, Kansas); guard Marvel Allen (No. 50, Georgetown); and guard Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn (No. 69, Illinois).
Post player Derik Queen led Montverde with 17 points while Gibbs-Lawhorn added 16, including a couple of jams that showed him to a be a strong contender for the event’s dunk contest. Montverde advanced to face host Iolani at 6:30 p.m. Monday in the 16-team tournament with seven national powerhouses.
Saint Louis took a lead twice to begin the game, including on a leaner by Sepulona. But by the end of the first quarter, it was 22-7 Montverde.
“I thought we played poor defensively tonight and not focused,” coach Kevin Boyle said. “But give them credit, they played hard even though they were outsized.” He called the play of Sepulona “excellent.”
Crusaders coach Dan Hale, who helped raise the school’s first state basketball banner since 1986, thought it was a valuable experience for his team, which graduated its entire starting five.
Jordan Nunuha supplied six points and Keanu Meacham five.
“It was great for us. They’re the real deal and they force us to execute and give us stuff we need to work on,” Hale said. “You can do everything right and you got a 6-10 guy shooting 3s in your face. I mean, our guys competed and played hard and I was happy that they did that.”
Sepulona turned heads by scoring 15 straight points for his team coming out of halftime. He showed a deft ball-handling ability and outside shooting touch to complement his bull rushes to the rim.
“Last year I was on the bench. It was humble pie for me, because I mostly start with my club,” Sepulona said. “But I feel like this year my coaches expect me to step up and be that leader for my team, even though our team is young. We have juniors, sophomores, freshmen and only one senior. But my job is to lead my team, encourage them, and especially my body language, you know? I can never have a negative (game), keep it positive because my teammates look to me.”
In the other games of the day, Iolani beat Radford 54-43; Mount Saint Joseph beat Leilehua 81-51; and Mount Vernon topped Moanalua 73-39.
Saturday features Maryknoll against Neumann Goretti at 2 p.m.; Kamehameha against Millennium at 3:30; Baldwin vs. Lake Oswego at 5; and Punahou vs. Milton at 6:30.
Some more photos from Friday night:
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.