Iolani upset bid
falls short in OT
Taishi Ito swished a 3-point shot at the buzzer as Montrose Christian (Rockwell, Md.), the No. 7-ranked high school basketball team in the nation, held off Iolani 42-41 in overtime of a quarterfinal-round game of the Iolani Classic last night at the Raiders gym.
"Nothing much to say. I'm speechless," said Iolani coach Mark Mugiishi, after nearly pulling off a huge upset ... . I'm speechless (about the final shot)."
The host Raiders led 41-39 after star guard Derrick Low made the front end of a 1-and-1 free-throw situation with around 10 seconds left. But Low missed the second shot, and Montrose got the rebound to set up Ito's game-winner.
"We didn't have any timeouts," Montrose coach Stu Vetter said. "We wanted to get it down the sideline. But it was cut off. So Taishi had to make a play. And he did. We practice the buzzer beater every day, so it wasn't a lucky shot. He had it all the way. If I had to pick a player to take that shot, it would be him."
Iolani, the two-time Hawaii defending state champion, led 24-22 at halftime and nearly won at the end of regulation. But Zach Tollefson missed a 15-footer with the score tied at 36.
Uche Echefu led Montrose with 12 points and Tunji Sorye added 10. Low was the game-high with 16, but Vetter credited Ito with outstanding defense against the two-time state player of the year.
"That's the best defensive effort I've had in a long time. It came from a sophomore," said Vetter, who has coached elite-level high school basketball more than 25 years.
Tollefson scored eight points.
"It was a great effort," Mugiishi said. "It just sometimes doesn't go your way."
Low was asked about Ito's shot.
"Lucky," he said, smiling.
Ito finished with seven points, six assists and one turnover.
Both teams play next on Friday, Iolani in the fifth-place bracket and Montrose in the semifinals.
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Moanalua 60, Hamilton 59: Eric Keys scored 19 points and pulled down six rebounds to help Moanalua to a victory over Hamilton.Darin-Jay Shinagawa contributed 14 and Joseph Nishimura added 12 to the Menehunes' balanced attack. Keys shot 8-for-10 from the field.
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St. Johns 77, Punahou 50: Jeremiah Ostrowski scored 17 points on three 3-pointers but couldn't help the Buffanblu come close to the Cadets from Washington, D.C.
Nolan Smith and Dwayne Anderson each scored more than Ostrowski, with Smith scoring 22 points and Anderson contributing 21. Dante Cunningham added in 12 points for St. Johns.
Punahou shot just two of four free throws.