With its survival instinct in overdrive, No. 5 Punahou stayed alive in its chase for a state berth by fending off No. 3 Saint Louis 64-61 on Wednesday in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu tournament semifinals.

Soon after the loss at McCabe Gym, the Crusaders learned their fate, and it wasn’t what they wanted to hear. Due to Kamehameha’s victory over league regular-season champion ‘Iolani, Saint Louis’ season came crashing to a halt. At one point, the Crusaders (7-6) were 6-1 and the No. 1 team in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Top 10.

Now, the Buffanblu (8-5) need one more win — at home against Kamehameha (whom they are tied with at No. 5) on Friday. The loser will be done. The winner will be the tourney champ and will move on to not only challenge No. 2 ‘Iolani for the overall league title but also join the Raiders at the Division I states.

“They want it just as much as we do, so I expect it to be a great game,” Punahou coach Darren Matsuda said about the big matchup against the Warriors.

Center Akahi Troske scored 19 points to lead the Buffanblu and his defensive work against Saint Louis big man Tristan Nichols was another key. Senior Jared Lum and sophomores Zayne Chong and Cole Arceneaux also played pivotal roles in keeping Punahou alive.

Both teams went at each other like there was no tomorrow and played with a frenetic pace throughout. The officials let them play and it was a clean game with a lot of back-and-forth flow.

“It was a really emotional game,” said Lum, who had just eight points, but whose hustle and defense is harder to quantify. “Do or die for both teams. Everything sort of fell together for us.”

His contribution is not lost on Matsuda.

“Lum is just the heart and soul of this team, man,” he said. “Whether it’s on the bench, leadership, what he does on the court, he affects the game. His hustle, his heart, his determination.”

The Buffanblu trailed most of the first half, but took a 27-25 lead at the break on Hunter Hosoda’s coast-to-coast layup. Saint Louis went ahead in the third quarter and built a six-point lead, but a key flurry — Chong’s 3-pointer and Troske’s putback of an Arceneaux miss — allowed Punahou to enter the fourth tied at 45-all.

Chong drove the paint for two points and dished to Troske for another bucket before his steal led to Cole Mausoff’s 3-pointer for a big 57-50 Punahou advantage with 3:55 left.

The Crusaders got as close as 62-61 on Lance Sataraka’s 3-pointer with eight seconds to go before the Buffanblu closed it out.

“This is not how we wanted this all to end,” said Saint Louis’ Nichols, who scored 14 points. “It shows that when we don’t practice like the team we want to be, this is the outcome. We’ve gone 1-5 (after a 6-1 start). It’s really disappointing since we did so well in the beginning. Basically, this whole season, we relied on our talent. We never really truly expressed or fully played to our capability.”

Said Saint Louis coach Allan Silva: “They (the Buffanblu) shot very well and we missed some easy ones, but overall it was a very close game and it could have gone either way.”

Arceneaux’s driving and passing ability opened up the Punahou attack.

“Cole is a tough matchup because he’s so fast,” Matsuda said. “Now, he’s getting better where he’s fast and in control and I think as a sophomore the sky’s the limit for him. It’s like the sea is parting for him, where he can really see the game. Zayne also had a great game. He’s also a sophomore and he is growing up. That’s kind of what’s happening with our team, they’re growing up a little bit. That’s why we’ve had a pretty good run.”

ILH DIVISION II BOYS

Single-elimination tournament

FIRST ROUND

Hawaii Baptist 67, Hanalani 54

Micah Mitchell scored 21 points, Max Weimken added 17 and Kellen Takatsuka had 14 as the Eagles beat the Royals. Hawaii Baptist will face University today.

HAWAII BAPTIST—Matt Sakai 4, Micah Mitchell 21, Brett Miller 5, Max Weimken 17, Kellen Takatsuka 14, Ty Minatoya 5, Adam Kikuta 1, Payton Lee 0, Bryson Gonzalez 0.

HANALANI—Jesse Leaman 19, Jacob Saito 4, Reyn Romero 0, Aaron Leong 13, Tyler Iguchi 2, Jadin Kam 3, Zane Pantil 13.

3-point goals—Hawaii Baptist 8 (Mitchell 3,Takatsuka 3, Minatoya, Weimken). Hanalani 3 (Leaman 2, Kam).

Damien 77, Assets 45

Shaun Apiki scored 21 points, Kolin Galdiano added 16 and Storm Maldonado had 12 in the Monarchs’ victory over the Admirals.

ASSETS—Kainoa Coarsey 6, Trevor Middleton 8, AJ Ulufale 12, David Ruffin 1, Chris Tanaka 4, David Zimmerman 8, Christian Wacker 2, Ikani Naulu 4.

DAMIEN—Jayvee Quines 2, Kolin Galdiano 16, Malik Adeniji 6, Storm Maldonado 12, Joseph Torres 4, Shaun Apiki 21, Crumel Mooring 4, Rekeeb Craig 3, Seth Daniels 1, Brandon Galang 4, Kross Daoang 4.

3-point goals—Assets none. Damien 5 (Galdiano 4, Craig).

Le Jardin 50, Christian Academy 34

Jerry Lawson scored 18 points and Dominic Venezia added 13 as the Bulldogs (8-4) defeated the Patriots (0-11). Christian Academy’s Matt Tokuda had 10 points.

At Le Jardin

Score by quarters not provided.

CHRISTIAN ACADEMY—Isaiah Harris 8, Rylie Schenbeck Chang 2, Matt Tokuda 10, Jacob Salas 2, Dakota Fisher 4, Brayden Salas 8.

LE JARDIN—Charlie Abe 6, Hunter Mansanas 3, Jerry Lawson 18, Corey Grip 6, Dominic Venezia 13, Tevin Harper 4.

3-point goals—Christian Academy 1 (Fisher). Le Jardin 2 (Abe, Mansanas).

ILH Division I-AA BOYS

PLAYOFF

Kamehameha 59, Punahou 46 (OT)