Shancin Revuelto splashed a career-high five 3-pointers as No. 1 Saint Louis rallied from an eight-point first-half deficit for a hard-earned 52-44 win over No. 2 Punahou on Thursday night at Hemmeter Fieldhouse.
The win lifted Saint Louis to 8-0 in ILH play with four games remaining. Punahou needed a victory to stay within close range of the Crusaders, but fell to the three-time defending state champions for a second time. Punahou dropped to 8-2 in league play (21-5 overall).
“Coach said that their defense is packing it inside so the outside shots would be open, so that’s what I did,” said Revuelto, a senior point guard. “We’ve been here before. We played so many preseason games, some of the best teams in California. We know what it takes to win.”
Junior forward Ethan Chung led Punahou with 19 points, shooting 5-for-6 from the arc. Saint Louis’ man-to-man defense stifled Punahou’s top two scorers, Tanoa Scanlan and Zion White. Scanlan shot 2-for-8 from the field and 2-for-2 at the free-throw line to finish with six points. He also hauled in six rebounds and dished three assists.
White sat most of the pivotal third quarter after picking up a third personal foul. The sophomore finished with seven points on 2-for-8 shooting from the field, adding 3-for-4 shooting at the foul line. White added seven rebounds and three assists.
Keanu Meacham added 12 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Caelen Fernando tallied eight points, five boards and five assists for Saint Louis (26-1 overall). With Scanlan at 6 feet, 6 inches, and White at 6-5, Punahou’s interior defense crowded the low post, but Saint Louis’ Pupu Sepulona kept battling. Drawing double teams helped his teammates, particularly Revuelto.
“When I fight for position, it leaves my teammates open for a basket. I move around because there’s a lot of guys that’s collapsing on me. I get two, three guys on me, so that means one or two guys are open,” said Sepulona, who had three assists.
Revuelto made his first trey in the first half as Saint Louis struggled against a swarming Punahou defense.
Punahou had its biggest lead, 20-12, after an 11-3 run.
Saint Louis chipped the lead down to 22-17 by halftime, then took control after White sat with his third foul and 5:32 left in the third quarter. Sepulona committed his third foul with 4:04 to go in the third stanza and also sat.
Revuelto and Jordan Nunuha swished back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game at 28 in the third quarter. Revuelto’s third trey gave Saint Louis a 31-30 lead.
Tate Takamiya’s free throw tied it at 31, but Punahou struggled to score the rest of the way. Revuelto ended the final two minutes of the third quarter with two more 3-pointers for a 37-31 lead, capping a 16-3 run.
White returned to the game at the start of the fourth quarter. The home team got a 3 from Chung and a tough layup by Dash Watanabe to get within 41-39 but scored just five points in the final five minutes.
“Everybody stepped up. Shancin, those shots were huge. Caelen started attacking. Punahou’s such a good team. We needed good shots like that,” Saint Louis coach Dan Hale said. “Today, we hit them.”
Saint Louis plays at Maryknoll on Saturday, then has road games against Mid-Pacific and ‘Iolani next week.
“We didn’t have a bye except for last week Saturday. It takes everything from the guys to kind of suck it up and be ready to go,” Hale said. “We’ve still got a lot of games to go, but this definitely puts us in a good spot.”
ILH Girls
No. 1 Kamehameha 45, No. 9 Punahou 21
Nihoa Dunn scored 18 points and Makenzie Alapai added eight as the Warriors closed the ILH girls regular season with a perfect 9-0 record. Kamehameha (24-3 overall) had already clinched an automatic state-tournament berth.
Pua Saole scored 11 points to lead Punahou (11-15, 1-7 ILH) , which closes its regular season against ‘Iolani at 1 p.m. Saturday.
