HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Maryknoll beats McKinley in Na Menehune Classic final
By Venus Lee
Special to the Star-Bulletin
The Maryknoll Spartans held off the feisty McKinley Tigers 44-34 in a heated defensive battle to claim first place in Na Menehune Classic.
Nainoa Lessary and Oliver Diguc led the Tigers' balanced attack with 8 points apiece, but it was not enough as the Spartans' Travis Liu registered a game-high 16 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the free-throw line. Teammates Garrick Chock and Jordan Napoleon added 11 and 10 points respectively.
However, the victory did not come without drama.
With less than 30 seconds remaining in the game, the Spartans converted four of their six free-throw attempts, which were awarded to them because the Tigers' Jonathan Lee intentionally fouled Garrick Chock and McKinley's Tilton Kaluna subsequently jumped off the bench and threw a towel in the direction of the referee.
Kaluna said he was attempting to prevent a fight between Lee and another Spartan player.
"We were frustrated and we lost control of our tempers," Tigers' head coach Bob Morikuni said. "We played so hard and we wanted to win so bad, but things just weren't going our way."
Morikuni claimed responsibility for not controlling his players and called it a "terrible end to a great tournament."
Farrington 56, Aiea 55
After battling from behind most of the game, Farrington edged Aiea for third place in the Moanalua Holiday Classic last night.
Rey Bartian led the Governors with 13 points.
Farrington's Elijah Filifili gave his team the lead it would keep with a 3-pointer for a 50-47 margin with 1:23 left.
Aiea's Obie Woods then cut the lead to one point on a jumper from the left elbow.
With less than a minute remaining, Na Alii were forced to foul Farrington's Christian Hernandez, who made both free throws to extend the lead to three. Hernandez finished with 13 points, including 8-for-12 shooting from the free-throw line.
"I tried to erase everybody and just kept thinking to myself, 'it's just like practice,' " said Hernandez, who said he shoots approximately 100 free throws before and after every practice.
Iolani II 56, Word of Life 53
Matt Smith scored 14 points and Troy Lee added 13 with 6-for-6 shooting from the free-throw line to help the Raiders edge the Firebrands in a matchup of ILH Division II teams. Word of Life's Peter Hanakahi and Aaron Tipoti finished with 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Kahuku 45, HBA 36
Pele Soliai and Pat Au led the Red Raiders attack with 11 and 10 points. The Eagles' Landon Herder tied for game-high honors with 11 points.
Campbell 49, Kailua 44
Mike Makinano pumped in 18 points as the Sabers edged the Surfriders. Tim Maghinay finished with a team-high 10 points for Kailua.
Roosevelt 51, Damien 38
Jeremy Harvest scored 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the free-throw line to lead three double-digit scorers for the Rough Riders. Daniel Arruda and Darren Erickson added 13 and 10.
The Monarchs' Aminis Thompson and Haku Correa finished with 8 points apiece.
Punahou II 68, Moanalua 60
Kainoa Carlson pumped in a game-high 22 points to lead the Buffanblu over the hosts. Punahou's Matthew Galarneau chipped in 13 points. Stevie Austin finished with a team-high 17 points for Na Menehune.
Mid-Pac 52, Waianae 41
Although Jesse Lafua scored nearly half of the Seariders' points, his game-high 20 were not enough to help his team defeat the Owls. Mid-Pac's Marcus Holyfield and Josh Grant led the ILH team with 18 and 15 points, respectively.