Brielle Nueku and Cristazia Joy Cristobal remember being the only freshmen on a Damien team that went to the state tournament in 2022.
Their long wait to return has ended. Nueku swished a game-tying corner 3 with 11 seconds remaining in regulation, then went coast to coast for the winning layup with one second left in overtime as Damien escaped with a 40-38 victory over Mid-Pacific on Saturday afternoon, sending the Monarchs to states.
Damien (12-6 overall) sealed a state tournament berth by winning the ILH’s third-place tournament. The Monarchs begin play in the Pacific Century Fund Team Aloha/HHSAA Girls Basketball Division II State Championships on Wednesday.
“I feel so proud of the girls. They put a lot of heart and soul into this season. I have nine seniors. A lot of them have been playing (varsity and junior varsity) since freshman year,” Damien coach Mark Arquero said. “To battle being down in the fourth quarter, being down in overtime, being relentless. I’m just so proud.”
The game was tied at 38 when Mid-Pacific’s Tori Tokuda drove on Nueku but was double-teamed by Jaelyn Natividad and missed a 7-footer that went out of bounds. With 7.9 seconds left in OT, Damien inbounded to Nueku, who beat three Owls in the backcourt, dribbled up the left sideline and scored over an MPI defender on a layup with one second to play.
On the ensuing inbounds pass, Kristie Kagawa inadvertently stepped on the baseline, giving the ball back to Damien.
On the next inbounds play, Cristobal shoveled the ball at her defender, who was surprised and dropped the ball as time expired.
Nueku led Damien with 18 points despite a sore left ankle, adding 10 rebounds, two assists, three steals and two blocked shots. She struggled in the second half against a tough-nosed MPI defense, taking only three shots — missing all of them — until she got open for the game-tying 3 late in the fourth quarter.
“I was praying the play would work,” Nueku said. “I had faith and I just shot it.”
Cristobal stepped up in a big way as the visiting Owls put the clamps on Nueku. The senior guard shot 10-for-10 from the free-throw line in the second half to keep the Monarchs in the game. She finished with 12 points and five rebounds. Four weeks ago, Cristobal shot 5-for-10 at the foul line in a win over Sacred Hearts. She was not satisfied.
“I went to the side of my house and I just shot free throws until the sun went down and I couldn’t see anymore. Over 100,” Cristobal said. “It paid off in the game today.”
Tokuda powered Mid-Pacific (7-16 overall) with 11 points and nine boards. Junior guard Samantha Hirasaki tallied 14 points before fouling out in overtime. Kourtney Marcos hustled for three points and eight rebounds.
During the regular season, Damien won at MPI, 48-43, on Dec. 21. The Owls returned the favor on Jan. 23, winning at Damien, 42-31. It was fitting that the rubber match between the teams went to overtime.
“They fought hard to the very end. It’s always a bummer to come up short, but I couldn’t have asked them to play any harder,” Mid-Pacific coach Julianne Nomura. “They stayed together and played as a team.”
After watching their lead dissipate at the end of regulation, Mid-Pacific had a 36-33 in overtime, but again, could not hang on.
MPI was ahead 38-37 with 32.7 seconds left in OT, but Hirasaki missed two free throws. She fouled Nueku at midcourt, her fifth foul, with 30.1 seconds remaining. Nueku made one of the two free throws to tie the game at 38.
