Pupu Sepulona scored 18 points, including a go-ahead putback with 35 seconds left, as No. 1 Saint Louis escaped with a 48-45 win over No. 6 Maryknoll on Saturday afternoon at Maryknoll Community Center.
Shancin Revuelto and Caelan Fernando chipped in eight points each as Saint Louis improved to 10-0 in the rugged ILH (27-1 overall) with another textbook win, making clutch plays down the stretch. Stone Kanoa added six points, four boards and five assists.
“Maryknoll has a great team. Playing against them for the past three years. They’re a hard team to play against,” said Sepulona, who got the kind bounce on several tough buckets in the post.
He shot 7-for-10 from the field, even though Maryknoll’s double-teaming defenders didn’t give him an inch.
“I give credit to coach Kelly Grant and all the assistant coaches and their players,” Sepulona said. “Some of them are my boys, been playing with them since I was young. We’ve got to compete out there and at the end of the day, it’s who wants it more.”
Nixis Yamauchi and Lilio did what they could despite illness. Yamauchi led Maryknoll (18-9, 2-6 ILH) with 12 points and seven assists, while Lilio tallied 10 points and five boards. Mission Uperesa-Thomas added 11 points and six caroms. The teams have played three times, including a semifinal game at the Kaimuki Invitational in December, with Saint Louis pulled out a narrow win each time.
“It was a brief (post-game) talk today. We played against University High and we had quite a lengthy talk,” Maryknoll coach Kelly Grant said, referring to a close loss to No. 5 University on Thursday. “We have some sick boys, but if you ask them, they’re not going to make excuses.”
Saint Louis crashed the boards for nine offensive rebounds. Maryknoll had five. One of those hustle plays was Sepulona’s putback to give the Crusaders a 47-45 lead. On the ensuing possession, Maryknoll had two shots to take the lead or tie the game, but came up empty. Lilio hustled for a follow shot on a missed 3 by a teammate, but came up empty on his layup attempt. The Spartans played the foul game and sent Fernando to the free-throw line with 11.4 seconds left.
Fernando made the first try for a 48-45 lead, then missed the second. Sepulona hustled and snagged the loose ball away from the Spartans and was fouled with 9 seconds left.
Sepulona then missed two free throws to give Maryknoll a chance to tie the game. Uperesa-Thomas rebounded and pushed the ball upcourt. He found Yamauchi on the left wing, who drilled left and launched a pull-up 3 over Stone Kanoa. The ball rattled in the rim, then bounced out at the buzzer, ensuring another narrow loss to the Crusaders.
Sepulona added six rebounds and two assists. His recovery from a partially torn meniscus in the football state championship game has been rapid. On Saturday, the 6-foot-3, 274-pound senior displayed the explosion and quickness reminiscent of his previous All-State player of the year seasons. On one hustle play, he tipped the ball away from a Maryknoll player and dove into the bleachers while saving the ball. The bleachers escaped unharmed.
Sepulona had four offensive rebounds despite a tough defensive front by Maryknoll’s 6-foot-3, 275-pound Ghesiah Faleafine-Auwae and 6-foot-5 Lilio. Sepulona’s knee brace has been gone for a week.
“I feel like it’s just the pride and the passion of trying to get back with my boys. Trying to get my legs back for basketball. Yesterday, I got some shots up at the court and the gym,” Sepulona said. “Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I did my workout for Utah (football). I feel like I got my legs back, getting my spring back.”
When the teams met at Saint Louis on Jan. 11, Maryknoll was in the game from start to finish before losing, 39-35. At the time, the Spartans were in last place, but the difference between them and the front-running Crusaders was extremely narrow, as it is now.
The teams also met in the semifinals of the Kaimuki Invitational, which Saint Louis won, 42-41.
“The difference between Saint Louis and us is the last three minutes. They’re alphas. They want the ball. We made a couple of mistakes on the blockouts, but as a whole, we played pretty well. Mission turned his game around and had zero turnovers today. He did really well, hit a couple 3-pointers. Nixis played well, hit some shots. For the most part, Pupu got some putbacks on rebounds, but for the most part we played him pretty good. Saint Louis as a collective group, they’ve got six, seven guys who are really good basketball players.”
Maryknoll and has four games left on the regular-season slate. The Spartans host ‘Iolani at 6 p.m. Monday.
Saint Louis’ crunch of 10 league games in a 27-day span leads into a less hectic schedule in the final two weeks of the regular season. The Crusaders play at Mid-Pacific on Thursday and at ‘Iolani on Feb. 4.
