Tate Takamiya and Houston Hosoda combined for 4-for-4 shooting at the free-throw line in the final 1:15 as Punahou eked out a 49-46 win over University in the semifinals of the HHSAA Boys Basketball State Championships on Thursday.
A packed house at McKinley Student Council Gymnasium saw Hosoda’s all-net foul shots open the lead to three points with 5.7 seconds remaining.
ULS got the ball to Alika Ahu, who drove to the top of the circle. Takamiya contested the 3-point shot, forcing Ahu to double-clutch in mid-air. The shot glanced off the front iron, ending University’s Cinderella dream.
Takamiya led Punahou (26-8 overall) with 16 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the field. The Buffanblu took just 10 free throws, making seven. The players credit assistant coach Tim Hosoda, their de facto free-throw guru.
“Coach Tim is the best shooting coach I’ve ever had. He just knows what I’m feeling. Whether my energy’s too high, how my follow-through is, little things I always think on every time I’m at the line,” Takamiya said. “When I see him smiling and clapping, I know I can do it because we always work on technique.”
Tim Hosoda had joked with head coach Darren Matsuda that he should be fired after Punahou shot 13-for-29 at the charity stripe in a quarterfinal win over Kamehameha-Hawaii on Wednesday.
“I know today will make him happy,” Houston Hosoda said of his father. “There was no doubt I was going to step out to the line and make both shots.”
Punahou lost to Saint Louis in last year’s final, 48-39. Matsuda guided the program to titles in 2012 and 2018, beating Kahuku each time.
“After the first quarter, we felt we weren’t playing together as well as we needed to. We made an emphasis on moving the ball better,” Matsuda said.
ILH runner-up Punahou gets a rematch with Saint Louis for the state crown at 7 p.m. today at SimpliFi Arena. Getting key plays from reserves like Nahua Lloyd and backup-turned starter Takamiya has been crucial.
“We call this the third season and we’re going to use the tools that we have. Nahua didn’t have a lot of playing time during the season, but he’s always been able to play big against big guys,” Matsuda said. “He stepped up big-time. Tate stepped up big time. Zion (White) could score score zero points and be useful because of his defense, his rebounding, his assists. He did a good job of not forcing the action.
White, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, added 10 points (4-for-6 from the field) and 11 rebounds. He also had three assists, two steals and six turnovers, including two of the latter on offensive fouls.
Ahu led University (21-12) with 19 points on 9-for-19 shooting from the field. He was also 0-for-5 from the arc. Trey Ambrozich added 12 points on 3-for-10 field-goal shooting and 6-for-8 from the foul line. The 6-7 junior also had four assists and four blocked shots. The Jr. ’Bows shot 40% from the field, including 1-for-10 from the 3-point line.
University was the third-place team from the ILH but had battled Punahou in three previous nail-biters, winning once. After finishing in a second-place tie to end the regular season (round one), they met on Feb. 6. Punahou prevailed 53-50 to seal a state-tournament berth and a spot in the ILH championship game.
With Tanoa Scanlan, Punahou’s leading scorer, out for the season with a hand injury, University had a golden opportunity.
As they did Wednesday against Kamehameha-Hawaii, the Buffanblu had a strong start. They zoomed to a six-point lead, then expanded it to 15-7 on White’s spin move in the paint for a basket. However, White was assessed a technical foul for talking trash, and University went on a 9-2 run to close the quarter.
ULS opened the second half with a post bucket by Ahu and a straightaway 3 by Kenna Quitan for a 28-24 lead. Punahou then went on a 9-0 run. White fed Dane Kellner on a fake handoff and rub screen to give Punahou a 29-28 lead. After Takamiya hit a jumper and Dash Watanabe stole the ball from Koa Laboy for a layup, the Buffanblu had a 33-28 lead.
ULS closed the gap. Two free throws by Ambrozich cut the lead to 34-32 with 8.5 seconds left in the third quarter, but Takamiya went coast to coast for a layup at the buzzer for a four-point Punahou cushion going into the final quarter.
Punahou never trailed again, opening the lead to 43-38 on a drive by White. With Ahu and Ambrozich scoring on the block, ULS pulled within 45-44 on a jump hook by Laboy with 1:42 left.
Takamiya delivered two free throws, and after White stripped the ball from Ambrozich, Ambrozich then fouled out a few seconds later. Punahou had a 47-44 lead and the ball with 49.9 seconds left.
Ahu came up with a backcourt steal and layup, cutting the lead to 47-46 with 41.1 seconds left.
Takamiya missed a tough layup and Aaron Hamada rebounded for ULS. The Jr. ’Bows called time out with 24 seconds remaining.
Laboy worked into the paint for his patented jump hook from 10 feet out, but missed and White rebounded. Punahou had the ball with 5.7 seconds left, still not in the bonus, and called time out.
