Firebrands defeat
Maryknoll to advanceWord of Life wins the Div. II
tournament play-in game 41-30
Word of Life proved last night that the terms "Division II" and "second rate" are two entirely different things.
The Interscholastic League of Honolulu D-II Firebrands used a tenacious defense to defeat D-I Maryknoll 41-30 in the league's posseason basketball tournament play-in game at Damien.
ILH basketball
Postseason tournament
Last night's play-in game
Game 1: Word of Life 41, Maryknoll 30
Tonight
Game 2: University (5-9) vs. Saint Louis (3-11), at Damien, 6:30 p.m.
Game 3: Word of Life (14-1) at Mid-Pacific (6-8), 6 p.m.
Tomorrow
Game 4: Winner Game 2 at Kamehameha (8-6), 6 p.m.
Game 5: Winner Game 3 at Damien (7-7), 5 p.m.
Friday or Saturday
Championship game, site and time TBA
"I've been telling the kids all along that even though we're classified in Division II, we still have to have the mindset that we're a varsity team," Word of Life coach Jenic Tumaneng said.
"That's why we scheduled a lot of quality D-I teams in the preseason."
The Firebrands (12-1) visit Mid-Pacific (6-8) tonight at 6 to start the tournament, which is held to determine the ILH's third seed to next week's states.
After an extremely slow start (the first quarter ended 3-all), Word of Life took a 15-13 halftime lead as Shane Lawrence scored six second-quarter points.
Lawrence finished with a game-high 14 points.
Brashton Satele poured more life into the Firebrands early in the third quarter by snaring the second half's first rebound. He then hit four straight free throws during a 9-3 run as Word of Life took a 24-16 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
Both teams were off in the shooting department, but the Firebrands forced the issue inside, causing many Spartan fouls and plenty of free-throw opportunities. Word of Life went 14-for-19 from the line in the second half.
"We just didn't seem to come to play," said Maryknoll guard Tyler Tsukazaki, who finished with a team-high 13 points, including eight during a fourth-quarter comeback bid. "We seemed tired and out of focus. They (the Firebrands) came into the game with a lot of fire. It's difficult to lose, but now it's time to work hard in the offseason and get ready for next season."
Maryknoll (1-14) cut the lead to 28-22 with 4:50 to go and trailed by seven, 31-24, with under three minutes left. Tsukazaki's steal and lay-up and 10-foot baseline runner kept the Spartans in striking distance. He also hit another 10-footer with 1:10 left to make it 36-29.
"We felt comfortable against Maryknoll because we played them twice in the preseason (each team won one)," Tumaneng said. "The kids were excited about this game and wanted to go out there for 32 minutes and see which team shows up."
Satele came up with three big defensive rebounds late in the game -- with 1:35, 0:42 and 0:23 showing on the clock -- to keep the Spartans from pulling closer.
"We played with heart, unity and discipline," Satele said. "We'll see what happens (in the tournament). Anybody has a chance."
At Damien Memorial H.S. gym
Word of Life (12-1) 3 12 9 17 -- 41 Maryknoll (1-14) 3 10 3 14 -- 30
WORD OF LIFE--Chad Siu 4, Michael Bass 0, Shane Lawrence 14, Gilbert Gonzales 2, Andrew Rutherford 5, Brashton Satele 8, Koa Pickard 6, Carl Montilho 0, Jorge Torres 2, Gyles Lawrence 0, Jordan Ranche 0.
MARYKNOLL--Tyler Tsukazaki 13, Tommy Nguyen 6, Edward Kawahara 0, Riley Tang 0, Kealakai Hussey 2, Jordan Durant 3, Melcar Condes 0, Christopher Lum 4, Michael Toyama 0, Travis Yamane 2.
3-point goals--Maryknoll 1 (Nguyen)
