HONOLULU — In one critical moment, Alika Ahu made sure that University Lab School’s season-long gambit paid off.
With the Junior Bows tied up with Kamehameha in the final seconds of an Interscholastic League of Honolulu playoff for the league’s third and final Division I state berth, Ahu’s driving bucket was the difference in a 51-49 victory at Saint Louis on Wednesday night.
ULS (9-5) earned a date against Kamehameha-Maui at 4 p.m. Monday, it was revealed in the HHSAA’s 12-team bracket. The winner gets a shot against No. 2 seed Kailua on Wednesday.
“It was very emotional,” Ahu said of the team’s postgame reaction. “We're a small school going up against a bunch of big schools with a lot more resources than us. It’s like a blessing to play against teams like that.”
University coach Ryan Tong, a player on ULS’ Division I state title teams in 1987 and 1988 — the program's last to do it — felt his small school had the horses to move up and be a real contender in the mighty ILH D-I circuit this year. That’s despite the fact that ULS has a senior class of only about 50 students.
University finished runner-up in the 2023 Division II state tournament and placed third in 2024. The Junior Bows, who’ve been without a home gym since before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, finished just behind Punahou for a spot in the ILH title game that was won by defending champion Saint Louis later Wednesday.
"We had to take the long way. And you know, we're here. We're here," Tong said. "I'm so proud of these guys. I'm so happy. This means a lot to us.”
With the University of Hawaii's Klum Gym unavailable for games and some practices as it's been used to store athletics equipment, the Junior Bows have practiced outdoors at parks.
"These guys never complain. They just want to take care of business and be here. Makes it even sweeter," Tong said.
After getting a key stop, the Junior Bows called timeout to set up a play with 12 seconds left. Tong drew up a play to set up a drive that could be executed by Ahu, Koa Laboy or Trey Ambrozich.
The ball found its way to Ahu and he saw an opening in the paint.
“We've been there before. The boys were calm. They executed,” Tong said.
The 6-foot-7 Ambrozich tipped the ball on an attempted inbounds heave by Kamehameha and the Warriors were unable to get off a shot.
Ahu and Koa Laboy scored 16 points and Trey Ambrozich added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Junior Bows.
Shifty guard Nahiku Nahale-a led the Warriors with 13 points and four assists. Makai Barr scored 12 and Blake Nakatsukasa had eight points and five rebounds.
Kamehameha (5-10) turned things on late in the season under first-year coach Ron Durant. The Warriors won road playoff games against Iolani and Maryknoll in succession to earn a shot against ULS.
Nakatsukasa tied it up at 43 on a 3-pointer and Hazyn Botelho put his team up for the first time in the period on a fast-break take.
Laboy scored inside to knot it up at 47. Forward Cyris Tasi put the Warriors up for the last time at 49-47 with 1:19 left, plus the foul. But he missed the free throw and Ambrozich tied it up at the other end.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
