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FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Fairfax's Alex Bausley, left, and Franklin's Kellen Williams fought for a rebound in last night's Iolani Classic final.

Fairfax wins
Iolani title

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By Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.com

Under the cool command of senior point guard Kevin Bell, Fairfax (Los Angeles) successfully defended its Iolani Prep Classic championship with a 63-56 overtime win over Franklin (Seattle) last night at Iolani Gym.

Bell finished with 16 points, hitting several clutch shots down the stretch, despite playing with four fouls in the final nine minutes of the game and helped the Lions erase a 10-point deficit to repeat as the classic champion.

"The guys showed a lot of heart and I'm just very proud of them," Fairfax coach Harvey Kitani said. "They came back and did whatever they had to come out with the win.

"(Bell is) the driver of our team, he keeps the team together. He give our players confidence, he's the backbone of our team."

Fairfax, ranked 17th in this week's USA Today Super 25, also got 20 points from sophomore Jamal Boykin. Boykin, a 6-foot-7 sophomore, also dominated on the boards, grabbing 12 rebounds.

Franklin forward Kellen Williams led the Quakers with 19 points, while Aaron Brooks added 18 a night after hitting for 36 in a semifinal win over Miami Christian.

"As we started to fatigue, we started giving up some second- and third-shot opportunities," Franklin coach Jason Kerr said. "Boykin really killed us on the glass down the stretch.

"(Williams) and a couple others tend to get overshadowed by Aaron. I don't think we took him out tonight, so he deserves all the credit in the world."

Franklin led throughout the game and opened up a 40-30 lead late in the third quarter.

But Bell hit a 3-pointer to spark Fairfax on a 9-2 run to claw back into the game. Franklin kept the advantage until there were 28 seconds left in regulation when Bell nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Fairfax its first lead at 49-47.

Brooks continued a tournament of big shots by driving the length of the floor and tying the game with a driving scoop shot with 14 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

Fairfax took a 54-51 lead on a jumper by Boykin and never trailed again. Bell iced the game by hitting 6 of 8 free throws in the extra period.

"He runs his team," Kerr said. "The way he takes care of the ball and executes their offense and gets guys in the position they want, he keeps them at the tempo that they want to play. Down the stretch the knocked down some free throws."

Despite knocking off No. 2 Miami Christian and taking No. 17 Fairfax to overtime in the tournament, Kerr said the Quakers aren't concerned about proving themselves to the national powers.

"We didn't have anything to prove. We came over here to play in a well-organized tournament against good competition and that's what we did," Kerr said. "We got better, we improved and we're going to take that home and apply that to our own state."

Third place

Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.) 62, Miami Christian (Miami, Fla.) 48: Montrose forward Linas Kleiza scored 34 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Mustangs, ranked 14th in this week's national rankings, past No. 2 Miami Christian.

Kleiza connected on 15 of 21 field-goal attempts and was the only Montrose player to score in double-figures.

Sammy Hernandez led Miami Christian with 14 points. Carlos Berrocales added 12 and Jesus Verdejo scored 11. Guillermo Diaz, who scored 34 points against Franklin on Friday, was held to five points.

Fifth place

Iolani 34, Vincent (Milwaukee) 31: Derrick Low scored a game-high 10 points as the Raiders won a defensive battle to claim fifth-place in the tournament for the second straight year.

Iolani led most of the game, but fell behind 22-20 in the third quarter. The Raiders reclaimed the lead when Kyle Pape hit a jumper to tie the game and was fouled at the 1:42 mark of the period. His free throw gave Iolani the lead for good.

"We shot the ball poorly again, but we found a way to win," Iolani coach Mark Mugiishi said. "So it's good to see we're making some progress."

Jovan Campbell led Vincent with nine points.

Most Valuable Player
Kevin Bell, Fairfax

Most Outstanding Player
Aaron Brooks, Franklin

Ray Wong "One Team" Award
Vincent

All-Tournament Team
Linas Kleiza, Montrose Christian
Alfred Walsh, Archbishop Carroll
Jesus Verdejo, Miami Christian
Jamal Boykin, Fairfax
Ricky Washington, Franklin
Guillermo Diaz, Miami Christian
Bill Mimis, Vincent
Derrick Low, Iolani
Fred Robinson, Montrose Christian
Joshua Shipp, Fairfax
Neal Zumwalt, Lincoln
Bobby Nash, Iolani

Yesterday's scores
Leilehua 50, Pearl City 37
St. Louis 56, Kaimuki 25
Radford 58, Baldwin 40

Consolation championship
Siena (Tuscany, Italy) 61, Kamehameha 35

Seventh place
Archbishop Carroll (Washington D.C.) 53, Lincoln (Portland, Ore.) 51

Fifth-place
Iolani 34, Vincent (Milwaukee, Wisc.) 31

Third place
Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.) 62, Miami Christian (Miami, Fla.) 48

Championship
Fairfax (Los Angeles) 63, Franklin (Seattle, Wash.) 56 (OT).

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