Pupu Sepulona scored 20 points, including key free throws with seconds left, as top-seeded Saint Louis edged Kailua 51-48 on Wednesday night in the Division I quarterfinals of the Heide & Cook/HHSAA Boys Basketball State Championships.
Kailua rallied from a 17-point deficit and got within three points before the young Crusaders finally made their stand.
“It’s a young group and they’ve never really been in this territory. That’s a good team we played. We knew going in that that team is very capable of beating everybody and winning the whole darn thing,” Saint Louis coach Dan Hale said. “We just wanted to make sure we were able to finish just enough. They made some great plays. Hat’s off to our guys for not panicking. Some rookie mistakes down the stretch but also made some big plays.”
Sepulona’s free throw with 9.9 seconds left opened the lead to 50-46. Maddox Pung scored on a layup with four seconds left. Sepulona was fouled with 1.6 seconds left and sank one of his two foul shots for a 51-48 lead.
Jonny Philbrick’s prayer shot from 75 feet away missed at the buzzer.
ILH champion Saint Louis (25-7 overall) will battle Moanalua, the Cinderella team of the tournament, today at Na Menehune’s gym in the semifinals. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
“I feel great we got the win. There are some things I could’ve done better,” said Sepulona, a 6-foot-2 sophomore. “Tomorrow, we’ve got to come together and refresh, and play better.”
Sepulona finished 8-for-13 at the free-throw line and 6-for-10 from the field, hauling in 11 rebounds. Jordan Posiulai added 16 points and 13 boards, including eight on the offensive glass.
Posiulai, who shot 6-for-13 from the field and 4-for-6 from the foul line, showed no effects of knee soreness. He had a bag of ice around each knee after the game.
“I want to thank our amazing trainers, putting up with us and keeping us prepared,” he said. “We would be nowhere without them.”
Philbrick, a blazing-quick senior point guard, finished with 19 points on 7-for-14 shooting and had six steals for Kailua (22-6). Noa Donnelly had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Saint Louis won the battle on the boards 38-21, pulling down 15 on offense.
“A guy like Jonny is going to find a way,” Hale said.
Sepulona had eight points in the first quarter, but Saint Louis had a narrow lead, 11-9. The Crusaders then went on an 11-0 run, powered by constant work on the offensive glass. Posiulai and Jordan Nunuha hustled for putbacks, and Posiulai worked on the block for another bucket.
Shancin Revuelto splashed a 3 from the right wing as the Crusaders opened a 22-11 lead.
With 3:06 to go in the second quarter, Nunuha departed with an ankle injury. Saint Louis led 24-12 at the half.
Philbrick faced double-teams on every drive and had seven points on 3-for-7 shooting at the break.
Saint Louis took its biggest lead, 35-18, after a three-point play by Sepulona, but Kailua answered with fullcourt pressure and an 11-0 run to close the third quarter.
The Surfriders stayed in its 2-3 zone through the third stanza as the Crusaders got away from their interior passing attack and Kailua got within 35-29. After Dylan Kunz swished a corner 3, Kailua was within 35-32 early in the fourth quarter.
Saint Louis scored for the first time in seven minutes on a layup by Posiulai, and after he passed to Keanu Meacham for a wide-open layup, the lead was 39-33 with less than five minutes left.
Philbrick kept his team in the game, exploding for a three-point play, and scoring again on another right-handed drive.
After Sepulona missed the front of a 1-and-1, Elijah Stietzel drove for a layup cot cut the lead to 47-43 with 46.2 seconds to go.
Sepulona made one of two at the foul line for a five-point lead, but Kunz drilled a corner 3 to cut the lead to 48-46. Meacham sank one of his two free throws for a three-point lead with 23.2 seconds remaining.
Philbrick then drove into the paint, backed his man down and passed to Stietzel at close range, but the pass was deflected and Saint Louis scooped the ball up.
