HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
St. Francis hands La Pietra its first defeat
There will be no perfect season for La Pietra, after all.
The Lady Panthers, who upended then-No. 10 Punahou II last week, ran into a buzz saw in St. Francis last night. Siutiti Takai pumped in 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as the Troubadours stunned La Pietra 58-55 at Damien Gym.
The Lady Panthers had the ball in their backcourt with 4.2 seconds remaining, but were unable to get a shot off before time expired. Courtney Gaddis used too much time bringing the ball upcourt, and Leah Kaina's 3-point attempt came after the buzzer.
"I thought it was going to be longer," Gaddis said. "We played all right, but we didn't finish well tonight."
The Troubadours survived a 29-point performance by Gaddis, who shot 13-for-14 from the line. The 5-foot-10 junior scored 13 points in the opening quarter, but the Troubadours rotated fresh defenders on her. She was scoreless in the final 3 minutes against spunky St. Francis guard Bryanna Batts.
Despite La Pietra's frontcourt of 6-footers, St. Francis outrebounded the Panthers 35-21. Takai was in foul trouble for much of the second half, but senior guard Kanani Perry stepped up with 13 points, 10 boards, four assists and four steals to stabilize the Troubadours.
"We're gonna take this as a win, but it's not the end. We're not there yet," Perry said, alluding to a state-tournament berth.
The win kept St. Francis (9-1) in the hunt for the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II title. La Pietra fell to 10-1 (14-4 overall). The top four teams will receive state-tournament berths, but the first-place finisher will earn a first-round bye.
St. Francis stifled Gaddis and opened the second half with a 10-0 run to take a 41-33 lead. Takai left the game with 6:27 left after picking up her fourth foul.
Gaddis, pushing the ball upcourt on every possession, sank six free throws in a row to give her team a 47-45 lead.
Maile Kimura's free throw gave the Troubadours a 48-47 lead with 5:34 left. La Pietra never led again despite 13 missed foul shots by St. Francis in the final quarter.
"Our girls played great team ball," St. Francis coach Paul Tanaka said. "This was a big game for La Pietra. We knew they were taking this like a championship game."
La Pietra shot 48 percent from the field (17-for-35), but committed 20 turnovers.