HONOLULU — In a slightly alternate universe, an all-Cinderella matchup is taking place in Friday night’s HHSAA Division I boys basketball championship at the Stan Sheriff Center.
But in this world, ILH powers Saint Louis and Punahou impounded the pumpkin chariots of Kahuku and University Lab before midnight with hard-fought semifinal victories at McKinley’s Student Council Gymnasium.
Kahuku took it to the three-time defending champion Saints for three quarters, carrying a four-point lead into the fourth, but forward Pupu Sepulona powered through his school’s football rival in the end in a 38-31 Crusaders victory.
“It's all about how much they really, really wanted to get back to this title game and that's what happened,” coach Dan Hale said of his senior-laden team. “They could have wilted, but they did it.”
And Punahou survived a tying 3-point look at the buzzer by University Lab’s Alika Ahu to edge the Junior Bows, 49-46, in yet another closely contested battle between two of the ILH’s best.
[Note: See below for more photos of the HHSAA Division I boys basketball semifinals.]
Friday’s 7 p.m. final is a rematch of last year’s won by the Crusaders by nine for their third straight title. A fourth straight koa trophy for Hale’s club would stand alone as the second-longest streak in state history, behind only the five in a row by Iolani from 2002 to 2006.
In Division II, top-seeded Seabury Hall knocked off two-time defending champ Kohala, 59-49, and Hawaii Prep defeated Aiea, 61-51. Seabury, a two-time runner-up including last year, seeks its first title in the sport while HPA is in contention for its second (2014).
Seabury and HPA tip off at 5 p.m.
Saint Louis seeks a 10th title and Punahou a 12th, which would break a tie with Iolani for the most all time.
The Crusaders (15-0) won the three ILH meetings with the Buffanblu (12-5) by one, eight and seven points. Punahou was without both of its frontcourt sophomore standouts, Tanoa Scanlan and Zion White, in the ILH championship. White is back from an illness and registered a double-double against University, but Scanlan is shut down for the season with a broken finger.
For its part, Saint Louis could have to do it without starting forward Stone Kanoa, who appeared to injure his left arm diving for a loose ball in the final minutes.
That was the kind of effort it took to rally. Saint Louis, bothered by the length of Kahuku’s front line in the early going, outscored Kahuku 18-7 in the fourth.
Sepulona said he was heartbroken when he saw Kanoa go down and would pray for his quick return. But the Saints, with the future University of Utah defensive lineman Sepulona, guards Caelan Fernando and Shancin Revuelto, and role players like Jordan “Moose” Nunuha, have plenty of experience to go around.
“My team, my brothers, we've been in this position before,” said Sepulona, who scored six of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, “in the atmosphere tomorrow in the state championship, playing in front of a lot of people.”
Forward Benson Goo led the Red Raiders with eight points and five rebounds before fouling out. Frontcourt mate Ronin Naihe had seven points, five boards and four blocked shots.
The Red Raiders were minutes away from a shocking appearance in the final after falling early in the OIA tournament and scrapping through the back door for a state berth.
“I knew we would give them problems with our length,” Kahuku coach Brandyn Akana said. “You know, we got four guys that are 6-4, 6-5, and I think that helped for three quarters, and at the end they started to figure it out, and we kind of missed some assignments down the stretch and they were able to get decent buckets.”
Preceding that battle, the small University Lab nearly pulled off its first D-I state final appearance since 1988.
“Usually, the teams that win that stay together. They ride the ups and downs and they stay the course, stay in the moment,” Punahou coach Darren Matsuda said. “That's what we had to do, because there's a lot of ups and downs of that game, and you can't go emotionally with the swings. You just got to try to stay the course.”
Tate Takamiya scored 16 points and the forward White had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Dash Watanabe chipped in nine points.
Houston Hosoda had two of the biggest shots of all as he sank two at the line with five seconds left, forcing the Junior Bows into a tough 3-point try on the run.
“We practice every day, so just able to be confident and knock them down,” Hosoda said.
Said Takamiya, “Houston is money. He's one of the best shooters in the state, if not the best shooter in the state. Just have so much confidence him, no matter what, like on the line, from 3, anything.”
Quipped Matsuda, “His dad's our free-throw shooting coach. So, I said, ‘if you don't make them, he has to walk home.’”
Watanabe opened the fourth with a 3-pointer to give his team a seven-point lead. But ULS, which played Punahou within a possession in all three previous meetings, stormed back and trailed by one on Ahu’s layup with under a minute left.
ULS got a stop but Koa LaBoy missed at the other end and the Junior Bows had to take a foul on Hosoda.
Ahu, who scored a game-high 19 points, grazed the rim on his tough final attempt. Forward Trey Ambrozich had 12 points, six boards, four assists and four blocks.
University coach Ryan Tong said it came down to a couple of untimely turnovers.
“I thought we could have been a little more patient offensively and been a little more deliberate with our actions,” Tong said. “But overall, take nothing away from Punahou. They made us work and vice versa. I'm proud of our guys for never giving up. What I told them after is we had a chance to win. I mean, we closed it, and I thought that this was going to be another kind of Cinderella at-the-buzzer win, and we couldn't have asked for anything better. We had a great look.”
The Junior Bows’ strong season-long performance at the D-I level was gratifying for Tong, a ULS alumnus who was on the top-tier state championship teams of 1987 and 1988. Their move up helped the ILH, too, in getting a third state berth — the one that ended up going to ULS.
Tong said he wants to remain at D-I next season.
“I commend these guys and so proud of them,” he said of the players’ postseason run. “It just kind of solidified the fact that we do belong here. I know that there's a lot of people that question our move to Division I, whether that was warranted or not, but I think we proved to everyone in the state we do belong.”
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
