Jordan Ke-A sank a free throw with 10.5 seconds left to break a tie as No. 9 Leilehua edged Mililani 50-49 on Thursday night to capture the OIA West Division crown.
Mililani pushed the ball to midcourt and called time out with 4.9 seconds left. Then came an entry pass to Ethan Rudometkin, who took an 8-foot jump hook in the paint that missed. Logan Lassell rebounded for Leilehua and time expired as a large crowd of Mules fans roared.
Ke-A was elbowed on the play that drew the foul when he stole a lob pass near halfcourt.
“It was adrenaline. All my teammates helped me to calm down,” he said of the key foul shot.
Leilehua closed regular-season play 10-0 (16-5 overall). Davon Newman had 14 points and five rebounds, Lassell added nine points, and Aviel Palmer tallied eight points and seven boards.
It was a hardscrabble final quarter as the home team rallied from a nine-point deficit and got within 40-39 on a corner 3 by Jayden Kipapa.
>> Photo Gallery: OIA boys basketball: Leilehua vs. Mililani
Leilehua’s tremendous transition game sparked an 8-0 run as Newman sank a jumper and Landyn Jumawan scored off a steal, and then scored again on a steal and pass from Lassell with 5:03 left.
Coach Garrett Gabriel’s Trojans made one last push, taking a 49-48 lead on two foul shots by Koby Sison with 1:42 left.
With 48 seconds to go, Palmer sank one of two free-throw tries to tie the game. Ke-A hit the go-ahead shot moments later as the decibel level hit a new high.
Kanoa Gibson paced Mililani (14-8, 9-1) with 13 points, six rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Both teams entered the regular-season finale undefeated in league play.
“We feel a little bit sad, but our goal is to get to states,” Gibson said. “The past is the past. Leilehua’s a really good team.”
For Leilehua, which had a solid preseason against many of the state’s top teams, the seven turnovers in the final quarter had fans feeling queasy. The Mules went to a spread, semi-delay game with five minutes left, and coach Chad Townsend second-guessed himself after the game.
“Can’t blame the guys. They’re young guys and I almost stung us in the butt with my call to go to the spread,” Townsend said. “Usually, we don’t go to it that early. That’s a bad call on my part. As a coach, I don’t think we worked on it enough at practice.”
Mililani’s scrappiness was notable, but 23 turnovers made a big difference. Leilehua finished with 16 giveaways.
The visitors led early and clung to a small cushion. Leilehua was up 15-10 after one quarter and 29-24 at the break. The Mules opened the lead to 34-27 early in the third quarter and were on the verge of breaking the game open, but Gibson and his teammates clawed back with rugged defense.
