The final day is here, which is nice news for the hard-working volunteers here at the ‘Iolani Prep Classic. For us fans and media, a bit sad. But we have eight good games ahead, and this has been one of those years when the matchups have been superb beyond Day 1.
Saturday’s scores
>> Mid-Pacific 53, Farrington 37, 15th place
>> Roosevelt 46, Hawaii Prep, 13th place
>> Moanalua 72, Campbell 42, 11th place
>> St. Francis 68, Kailua 62, 9th place
>> Pleasant Grove (Utah) 43, ‘Iolani 35, 7th place
>> Westchester (Los Angeles) 54, West Linn (Ore.) 41
>> La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.) 72, Oak Ridge (Orlando, Fla.) 58
>> Montverde (Fla.) 57, Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) 49
Champion: La Lumiere
Montverde 57, Sierra Canyon 49, FINAL
What a game, and the experience of Montverde showed down the stretch. Moses Moody scored 16 points, including a crucial bucket down the stretch, as the Eagles outscored the Trailblazers 16-10 in the final 6 minutes.
Moody also had nine big rebounds. Precious Achiuwa added 10 points and Cade Cunningham had eight.
Sierra Canyon, which would have been co-champion with La Lumiere by beating Montverde, got 17 points from Cassius Stanley, 13 from Scotty Pippen Jr., and 13 more from Kenyon “KJ” Martin Jr.
Montverde 55, Sierra Canyon 46, :30.3, Q4
Stanley rebounds as Achiuwa misses two FTs, but Stanley commits an offensive foul driving coast to coast with :36.8 left. The Blazers try to trap and tie up a Montverde guard, and a foul is called. Referee warns the Sierra Canyon bench to settle down and sit down, but they keep talking and the ref calls a technical foul. So that will be a personal, then a tech — four FTs — plus the ball for Montverde. Moody sinks his two FTs, then hits one more on the technical. Ouch.
Montverde 52, Sierra Canyon 46, :46.3, Q4
Martin misses on a tough drive, Koloko misses the tough putback, and Koloko fouls out. Moody hits both ends of a 1-and-1, and Montverde leads 51-46, 1:36 left. Pippen’s pull-up 3 spins out. Achiuwa has position on the block and is fouled. The 6-9 senior misses the first FT, makes the second. Stanley then air-balls a pull-up 3. The Eagles call time out at midcourt.
Montverde 49, Sierra Canyon 46, 1:51, Q4
Huge stand by the Blazers. Pippen picks his way for a steal and layup and then draws an offensive foul by Montverde PG Ryan Nembhard. They get the ball, but Pippen’s pass is stolen. Moses Moody scores inside on 7-foot Christian Koloko. Then Sierra scores to get within 47-46, but Achiuwa throws it down on an easy draw-and-dish from a teammate.
Montverde 45, Sierra Canyon 42, 3:47, Q4
Pippen drains a 3 from well beyond the arc in transition. Clutch.
Montverde 45, Sierra Canyon 39, 4:14, Q4
Stanley goes coast to coast but his tough shot in traffic is rejected by Achiuwa. On the other end, Moses Moody goes to the line, hits two FTs.
Montverde 43, Sierra Canyon 39, 5:01, Q4
Harland Beverly throws down a putback, clearly offensive goaltending, no call. Sierra Canyon coach Andre Chevalier is jumping up and down at midcourt in protest. No go.
Montverde 41, Sierra Canyon 39, 5:37, Q4
Precious Achiuwa throws down an alley-oop dunk and the lead is three points. What a battle. Cassius Stanley cuts the margin to two with a FT.
Sierra Canyon 23, Montverde 23, halftime
It’s been a physical defensive battle between No. 4 Sierra Canyon and No. 1 Montverde. At stake: Sierra Canyon can claim a co-championship with a win. A loss would give the outright championship to La Lumiere, which beat Montverde on Friday and Oak Ridge on Saturday.
#6 La Lumiere 72, #20 Oak Ridge 58, FINAL.
The Lakers capture at least a share of the ‘Iolani Prep Classic title.
If #4 Sierra Canyon beats #1 Montverde, LaLu is co-champ.
Isaiah Stewart had his best game in the tourney with 24 points on 9-for-13 shooting. The 6-foot-9 senior, rated No. 5 in his class, also hauled in 13 rebounds and blocked two shots. His twin tower, Keion Brooks, scored 18 points and grabbed eight boards with four assists. Gerald Drumgoole added 13 points, six caroms and three dimes.
Christopher Walker was stellar for Oak Ridge with 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Kaleb Coleman added 17 points and six boards.
La Lumiere 63, Oak Ridge 52, 2:41, Q4
Tough layup in the paint by Brooks, and then Stewart pins a layup by Oak Ridge against the glass. Time out, Oak Ridge.
La Lumiere 58, Oak Ridge 44, 5:54, Q4
Green slashing and dishing, just unstoppable. Lead was up to 16 for LaLu.
La Lumiere 50, Oak Ridge 40, end Q3
Green drives through traffic for a layup at the buzzer.
La Lumiere 48, Oak Ridge 38, 2:20, Q3
The Lakers had just two turnovers in the first half, and have five already in the third quarter, but their defense is saving them again. Oak Ridge is shooting just 30 percent from the field.
La Lumiere 39, Oak Ridge 28, halftime
Christopher Walker is keeping Oak Ridge in this game. They’re utilizing him at the elbow, but when he’s double-teamed, they haven’t been able to make the open 3. Walker has 11 points so far.
Keion Brooks has 10 points and four boards, and Isaiah Stewart has 15 points, including a straightaway 3 with 25 seconds left in the first half. Stewart also has six rebounds and two blocks. Point guard Wendell Green has been a blur, as usual. He has four assists and three caroms.
La Lumiere 22, Oak Ridge 14, end Q1
Close until the Lakers went on a 12-2 run to close the first. Isaiah Stewart and Keion Brooks: swat patrol in the key.
Next up is the first co-championship* game. La Lumiere needs a win over Oak Ridge to earn at least a share of the championship. A loss and… what happens if Sierra Canyon and La Lumiere lose to their opponents tonight? I haven’t heard anything. But this is certain: La Lumiere has a matchup with Oak Ridge, which lost in the quarterfinals, up next. Then Sierra Canyon meets Montverde, the nation’s No. 1 team which lost to La Lumiere on Friday. All because the CIF and some other associations don’t allow their member schools to compete against independents like La Lumiere.
Westchester 54, West Linn 41, FINAL
Westchester 40, West Linn 33, end Q3
Westchester 15, West Linn 9, end Q1
Pleasant Grove 43, ‘Iolani 35, FINAL
Tyler Fairbanks led the Vikings with 16 points. Kael Mikkelsen added 11 points and Casey Brown tallied eight points. Kawika Lee paced ‘Iolani with 11 points. Noah Bumanglag chipped in with nine.
Pleasant Grove 42, ‘Iolani 35, 1:18, Q4
The Raiders are saving their best for last. Noah Bumanglag’s 3 cuts the lead to seven. That’s three 3’s in a row by ‘Iolani.
Pleasant Grove 37, ‘Iolani 26, end Q3
Raiders getting opportunities in the paint, struggling to convert against the Vikings’ 2-3 zone.
Pleasant Grove 29, ‘Iolani 19, halftime
The Vikings are playing without 7-foot-4 center Matt Van Komel again (ankle), but they’re running their drive-and-kick offense well, and their matchup zone defense is stifling the Raiders.
Pleasant Grove (Utah) 13, ‘Iolani 9, end Q1
Bit of a herky-jerky first quarter, lots of turnovers, unexpectedly by two normally precise teams.
St. Francis 68, Kailua 62, FINAL
Kameron Ng scored 30 points, including five treys, to lead the Saints. Kordel Ng added 18 points.
Lydell Romero and Isaiah Hopson scored 18 points each for Kailua. Everett Torres-Kahapea chipped in 12.
St. Francis 66, Kailua 60, :14.2, Q4
Kailua gets within 63-58, but Kameron Ng hits three of four FTs to stretch the lead. Hopson’s layup cuts this margin to six. Time out, Kailua.
St. Francis 62, Kailua 56, 1:29, Q4
Steal by Williams, who misses a layup, but Hopson is there for the follow and it’s a six-point game. Time out, Saints. This is a 20-4 run by the Surfriders.
St. Francis 62, Kailua 52, 3:19, Q4
The Surfriders hit two FTs to pull within 10. Saints C Nalu Kanalulu has just fouled out. St. Francis sharpshooter Titus Liu has not played. They’re already without C Makua Marumoto.
St. Francis 58, Kailua 36, end Q3
Every now and then, a hot shooter supercedes game flow and game script. Official scorer says Kameron Ng now has 25 points, including five 3’s. En fuego. Scorching hot. Kameron Ng is hitting everything now, off the dribble with the 3, at the elbow, even inside the corner arc. Kailua has a tall defender, Kaniala Williams (6-1) on him now, but Ng is unconscious. He just hit a pull-up 3 from the volleyball line with Williams in his grill. That’s a 33-footer. I do believe, despite the still-healing ankle, Kameron Ng is officially back. He had 32 against Campbell yesterday. And Kordel Ng hits a pull-up wing 3 with :04 left in the quarter.
St. Francis 29, Kailua 20, halftime
Lot of intensity in this one. Kameron Ng starting to heat up.
St. Francis 13, Kailua 11, end Q1
The Saints enter this game ranked No. 5 in the Star-Advertiser Top 10. Kailua has been ranked in previous weeks. The last time they met, St. Francis won 87-78 in OT on Nov. 30.
Moanalua 72, Campbell 42, FINAL
Geremy Robinson scored 23 points and Isaiah Sugiura had 19 for Na Menehune. Mitchell Williams led the Sabers with 16 points and Kaimana Preza chipped in nine. Moanalua shot 14-for-22 at the free-throw line. Campbell was 7-for-19.
Moanalua 53, Campbell 29, end Q3
Moanalua 46, Campbell 25, 2:49, Q3
Na Menehune getting great defensive effort overall, especially from Isaiah Sugiura.
Moanalua 34, Campbell 20, halftime
The Sabers made a mini-run and got within 11, but Geremy Robinson scored on a fastbreak putback and was fouled just before the buzzer.
Moanalua 30, Campbell 9, 5:07, Q2
Moanalua is playing without C DiAeris McRaven, who is at a volleyball tournament. Kyle Hughley has stepped in capably, but he just went down with a left ankle injury.
Moanalua 23, Campbell 6, end Q1
Na Menehune are No. 6 in the Star-Advertiser Top 10 and playing like it this morning. A lot of energy defensively, and they’re running hard in transition.
Moanalua 11, Campbell 5, 3:28, Q1
Moanalua is playing aggressive man defense and it’s causing problems for Campbell’s offense. Isaiah Sugiura hustles and winds up with a steal and layup.
Roosevelt 46, Hawaii Prep 37, FINAL
Nice rally by Ka Makani in the second half, but they couldn’t sustain it and lost the ball three times in the final 2 minutes. Ty Shishido with another stellar game for the Rough Riders. When G Micah Visoria returns for OIA regular-season play in the coming week, that’s going to be a formidable backcourt with Cameron Miyasato providing quality depth.
Shishido led Roosevelt with 20 points. Logan Quinlan added 10 points. Javan Perez and Valentinas Ulinas led Ka Makani with 12 points each.
Roosevelt 38, Hawaii Prep 31, 4:21, Q4
The Rough Riders have survived the brunt of HPA’s run. For now.
Roosevelt 32, Hawaii Prep 29, end Q3
What a run by Ka Makani, a 12-0 blitz in the final 3 minutes of the quarter.
Roosevelt 32, Hawaii Prep 20, 2:10, Q3
The lead was up to 15 for the Rough Riders.
Roosevelt 22, Hawaii Prep 14, halftime
Ka Makani has caught their second win, pun intended. An 11-2 run has brought HPA within 17-13 with 3 minutes left in the second quarter.
Roosevelt 15, Hawaii Prep 2, end Q1
Ka Makani notched a solid win on Friday against No. 7 Mid-Pacific, but they’re struggling against a game Roosevelt squad today.
Roosevelt 10, Hawaii Prep 2, 3:27, Q1
Ty Shishido is slicing and dicing for buckets, and his steal and layup have the Rough Riders up by eight. HPA looks a step slow in this fourth game in five days. Coach Fred Wawner calls time out.
Mid-Pacific 58, Farrington 37, FINAL
The Owls finish strong in a game that had plenty of intensity and competitiveness from beginning to end.
Elijah Kahue-Parker led the Owls with 14 points and Colin Ramos tallied 12. Micah Suan added nine points on three treys and Kamana Lapina chipped in eight points. Aaron Bagaoisan paced the Governors with 16 points.
Mid-Pacific 49, Farrington 28, end Q3
The Govs are frustrated, and some of that may be from fatigue. MPI is rolling in the entire roster and staying fresh. Farrington has just eight players in uniform.
Mid-Pacific 32, Farrington 19, halftime
MPI coach Ryan Hirata using his bench early and extensively on this fifth day. Every team is playing its fourth game today. Even in the pleasant air-conditioned confines, fatigue is fatigue. On the other bench, Govs coach Steven Leopoldo is asking his guys why they have let MPI make SEVEN 3-POINTERS. The turnovers are enough to give the former Farrington great (yes, he was a fierce defender and knockdown shooter back in the day) a headache, but letting the Owls get open looks from the arc? MPI is shooting like their coach today. In fact, if there was a coaches division for the ongoing 3-point contest at the Classic, I’d wager a plate lunch on Hirata. Then Leopoldo.
Mid-Pacific 20, Farrington 12, end Q1
The Owls connected on four 3-pointers in this 9 a.m. game, including a bank 3 from the right wing by Micah Suan. They’ve brought the energy level again, and MPI does this as well as any team I’ve seen in preseason. Farrington fell behind 18-9 after a string of off-target entry passes against the MPI zone, but the Govs are hanging in there. Raefe McEnroe, at 6-foot-3 with handles, has been key to their pressbreaker. Both teams are running. Could be a fun game start to finish.
COMMENTS