The defending state champions may look the part, but really, they’re just a young pack of pups.
Three sophomores and two juniors started for fourth-ranked Saint Louis in a 48-33 win over No. 10 Moanalua on Thursday night at the James Alegre Invitational.
Pupu Sepulona scored 11 points and teamed up with Jordan Posiulai to give the Crusaders a big edge on the boards. Jiovanni Ramos also scored 11 points, including a few buckets on fast-break feeds from point guard Shancin Revuelto.
Cyrus Faradinah scored nine of his 11 points in the first quarter to lead Moanalua.
Saint Louis improved to 4-0 in nonconference play.
“We’re getting there. We have a young team. Some freshmen coming off the bench, so we’re young. This is perfect for us, going against a good, solid team. They make you have to execute,” Saint Louis coach Dan Hale said of Moanalua’s tough man-to-man defense.
“We had our moments and were going to have our growing pains. That’s pretty much how this preseason goes for us. There was a lot of excitement for us, guys running 1,000 mph. Once they settled down and we started doing the stuff we needed to do, we were OK. They’re helping us get ready for the ILH. Moanalua is a good team. That’s definitely a state-tournament type team right there.”
Saint Louis relied on senior leaders Aiva Arquette, Hayden Bayudan, AJ Bianco and Shoncin Revuelto during their title run a year ago.
“Leadership. We definitely need our returnees to step up as leaders, to share their experiences,” Hale noted. “It’s just going to be a journey. All these guys are amazing, so coachable.”
Posiulai has settled in as a vital cog in the paint at 6 feet, 4 inches with plenty of heft and finesse.
“Jordan’s doing great. Jordan is really coming on. He’s a big force inside. He makes people have to guard him, puts a lot of pressure on their big, who picked up a bunch of fouls. Jordan has definitely taken a nice step forward,” Hale said.
Saint Louis takes on defending OIA champion Mililani on Friday night.
“We’ll see where we’re at. These games are all about figuring out where you’re at and what you need to work on,” Hale said. “When we get to the ILH season, it’s so fast, all those games. You’ve got to be ready to roll when it starts.”
A year ago, preseason was cut short by the pandemic. Saint Louis was scheduled to play in the feature game at 7 p.m. but made a request to play earlier because the football team had a state championship game that night. The basketball team played at noon, and the rest of the tournament was canceled as of that afternoon.
Radford 59, Honokaa 52
Hawkins Souffrant pumped in 17 points and Caden Williams added 12 for the Rams. Kiandray Rideout scored 14 points and Mauloa Tagabi had 13 for Honokaa, the alma mater of the tournament’s namesake and legendary Radford coach, James Alegre.
Leilehua 71, Mid-Pacific 29
Zelston Militante, a transfer from Nanakuli, scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half for the Mules. Willie Cooper added 10 points.
Darius Chizer, Logan Mason and Tyson Norr scored four points each for the Owls.
Mililani 58, McKinley 20
Lauvai Pine scored all nine of his points in the first half to lead the Trojans’ balanced attack.
John Cruz led the Tigers with six points.
No. 3 Punahou 80, Lahainaluna 41
Tucker Lam splashed five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points to pace the Buffanblu. Dillon Kellner added 12 points.
Noah Flores Alexander led the Lunas with 10 points.
