Kelly Grant says he has all the pieces to make a run at the state championship in his second season as Maryknoll’s head coach.
They were all on full display Wednesday night at McCabe Gym.
Center Tobias Schramm scored nearly all of his 17 points inside the paint, Kaleb Gilmore drained five 3-pointers and Joshua Burnett did a little bit of everything en route to his 14 points as the third-ranked Spartans blitzed Saint Louis 60-32 in the ILH regular-season finale for both teams.
Maryknoll’s win, coupled with Punahou’s 29-27 loss to ‘Iolani on Tuesday, gives the Spartans (9-1) one of the ILH’s two automatic berths in the state tournament and the No. 1 seed in the league playoffs.
Maryknoll can clinch the ILH title outright by winning the tournament but is guaranteed at least a playoff game against the winner should it be someone other than the Spartans.
"We can rest a little easy as far as not putting too much stress on ourselves going into games in the playoffs," Grant said.
Saint Louis (3-7) provided a challenge for a quarter and a half before Maryknoll blew the game open with a breathtaking 33-5 run over a 10-minute span in the second and third quarters.
Trailing 11-7 after the first quarter, Saint Louis got consecutive buckets from Robert Sawinski to tie the game at 11-all and Kevin Marks evened the score again at 13 with a putback.
At that point, Maryknoll went to work, starting at the defensive end with Schramm, a 6-foot-9 senior, blocking shots on consecutive possessions that led to six quick points.
Gilmore hit the first of his five 3-pointers and Schramm converted a 3-point play with his fifth free throw in as many attempts to give Maryknoll a 21-13 lead at the break.
"We picked it up and played our normal game," Schramm said. "We started playing our best."
A three-point play and a putback by Sawinski in the third quarter were the only points scored by Saint Louis during a 25-5 run that pushed the Maryknoll lead to 46-18.
The Spartans took advantage of five steals and eight Crusaders turnovers as Gilmore hit three 3-pointers and assisted on three baskets, including a breakaway dunk by Burnett, who also dished out three dimes in the quarter.
"This is probably the best game we’ve ever played — inside and outside," Grant said. "We played really well tonight."
Saint Louis did its best to slow the pace in the first half, but turnovers and quick shots in the third quarter allowed the Spartans to play at their tempo.
"We didn’t run as much in the beginning of the season, but now that we’ve played more as a team we’re getting results," said Gilmore, who finished with six assists and three rebounds.
Sawinski finished with a team-high 13 points and six rebounds to lead the Crusaders, who shot 28 percent (7-for-25) in the second half.
Maryknoll shot 86 percent (12-for-14) in outscoring Saint Louis 27-9 in the third quarter.
At McCabe Gym
Maryknoll (9-1) 11 10 27 12 — 60
Saint Louis (3-7) 7 6 9 10 — 32
MARYKNOLL—Danny Danbara 2, Kaleb Gilmore 15, Joshua Burnett 14, Tyson Kaloa 0, Tobias Schramm 17, Hyrum Harris 5, Tobias Powell 0, Tamamoko Green 5, John Mayer 2, Sean Ogata 0, Mickey Morikawa 0, Varrick Suezaki 0, Kekoa Welsh 0.
SAINT LOUIS—Jimmy Nunuha III 6, Kevin Marks 2, Jarin Hall-Monis 0, Nate Mantanona 7, Robert Sawinski 13, Wallen Te’o 0, Ihaka Johnson 2, Adrian Faitalia 0, Jedidiah Lulu 0, Ricky Ahlo-Pinera 0, Elijah Robb 2, Peter Sagapolutele 0, Daniel Yoshiki 0, Joshua Bermudez 0.
3-point goals—Maryknoll 8 (Gilmore 5, Burnett 2, Green), Saint Louis 1 (Mantanona).
ILH Division II boys
Damien 79, Hawaii Baptist 67
Entering the period with a three-point deficit, the Monarchs took control in the third quarter by outscoring the Eagles 23-6.
Ashton Obrero had a team-high 18 points as five Damien players scored in double figures.
BJ Hosaka hit four 3-pointers and finished with 23 points for Hawaii Baptist.
At Damien
Haw. Baptist (3-6) 20 21 6 20 — 67
Damien (8-1) 17 21 23 18 — 79
HAWAII BAPTIST—Bryson Hirokawa 11, Joshua Kishaba 7, BJ Hosaka 23, Danton Tominaga 2, Chris Caballes 0, Michael Dang 4, Matthew Kishaba 8, Jordan Kauwe 4, Brett Miller 6, David Efhan 2.
DAMIEN—Noah Ferreira 5, Syles Choy 0, Aaron Miyahira 0, Jaylen Layco 13, Linden Quintal 4, Nick Arakaki 10, Kapiina King 13, Marcus Mafi 2, Ashton Obrero 18, Alex Fant 12, James Roy 2.
3-point goals—Hawaii Baptist 8 (Hosaka 4, Hirokawa 3, J. Kishaba, ). Damien 1 (Arakaki).
Tuesday’s Late Result
St. Francis 46, University 41
At St. Francis
University (6-3) 12 9 8 12 — 41
St. Francis (9-0) 14 9 8 15 — 46
UNIVERSITY—Chris Meyer 8, Eric Leung 0, Anthony Canencia 14, Josh Akamine 0, R.J. Realubit 9, Ryan Kaleikini 10, Shaun Mahiko 0.
ST. FRANCIS—Austin Ursua 15, Sosiua Havea 0, Matthew Nuumanaia 4, Kalani Akana 0, Shabir Lynton 11 , Blayne Won 8, Keoni Tom-Millare 4, Daron Sun 0, Ranan Mamiya 4.
3-point goals—University 5 (Canencia 3, Realubit, Kaleikini). St. Francis 2 (Ursua 2).
