Nobody was open and Reilani Roller wasn’t looking to shoot, but that turned out to be Castle’s destiny.
Roller splashed a game-tying 3-pointer with two seconds left in regulation, and the Knights dominated overtime for a thrilling 63-52 win over Farrington to capture the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II girls basketball championship.
The win gave the Knights their first league crown in girls hoops.
A rollicking crowd of about 500 saw Castle practically give the game away thanks to nine missed free throws in the fourth quarter, but they persisted with fullcourt pressure — Farrington committed 36 turnovers in the game.
Down 49-46 in the final seconds, Roller dribbled the ball up the right sideline.
“I thought about passing to Meleane (Turner),” said Roller, who realized her sharpshooting teammate was not open. “I shot it and I was praying to God it would go in.”
Her shot hit all net and time expired with Farrington out of timeouts. In overtime, the Knights simply overwhelmed the Governors. Turner and Shayla Young swished 3-pointers en route to victory.
Roller finished with 13 points to lead Castle (15-11 overall).
Coach Joseph Lilio said the Knights hadn’t really practiced for these situations, but had great faith in their 3-point shooters.
“We’re down three points and I told her we only have nine seconds left. I kept yelling, ‘Three, three, three!’ As soon as she sent it up, I knew it was going in,” he said. “She’s a good shooter and she missed a lot of shots, so I knew something had to drop.”
Rajah Majit-Gorion tallied 12 points, Noelani Beard added 11 and Briarra Nakihei had 10 points and eight rebounds despite sitting much of the second half with foul trouble.
Farrington (6-8) and Castle will play in the D-II state tournament. The Governors lost 51-47 at Castle during the regular season.
This time, in Radford’s James Alegre Gymnasium, they had a superlative performance from Setita Prescott (16 points and 16 rebounds). Prescott scored six points and hustled for six rebounds in the third quarter, and after Angel Baptista hit an elbow jumper, the Govs went ahead 36-35 with 6:35 to go in the contest.
After Angel Tuika-Sagapolutele hustled for a putback, Farrington led 38-35, and Shaylen Tatupu-Timu’s driving bucket made it 44-39 with 1:33 to go in regulation. From there, turnovers did the Governors in as Prescott sat for the most of the final four minutes after limping off the floor.
Castle shot just 35 percent from the floor and 51 percent at the foul line (19-for-37), but had 20 fewer turnovers than Farrington. Young finished with nine points and six steals to spark the Knights’ defense.
Farrington shot 40 percent from the floor, but was just 1-for-14 at the 3-point arc.
AT RADFORD
Farrington (6-8) 12 10 10 17 3 — 52
Castle (17-11) 14 9 12 12 14 — 63
Farrington: Angel Baptista 5, Shaylen Tatupu-Timu 9, MJ Peralta 6, Charmmaine Balala 2, Hikialani Molitau 1, Shayla Cabato-Machado 3, Setita Prescott 16, Angel Tuika-Sagapolutele 6, Maselynn Semisi-Fuamuli 4
Castle: Rajah Majit-Gorion 12, Kelsey Bacoro-Gapol 0, Meleana Turner 3, Lauryn Kong 0, Reilani Roller 13, Nolan Beard 11, Briarra Nakihei 10, Dayzee Wong 2, Holly Quirit 2, Shayla Young 9.
3-point goals: Farrington 1 (Tatupu-Timu), Castle 6 (Roller 2, Majit-Gorion, Turner, Nakihei, Young).
