'Iolani, Honoka'a also gain semifinals

Bobby Webster scored five points in the final 51 seconds of overtime as ‘Iolani came from behind to beat Leilehua 65-63 last night in a quarterfinal game of the Hawaiian Airlines Boys State Basketball Championship at McCabe Gym.

It was the kind of basketball game that leaves you drained, but begging for more.

There were more heroes and story lines than this space permits, with surges and counter-surge, lead changes, great plays and greater ones.

‘Iolani led 49-40 with less than three minutes left in regulation. Leilehua led by four with 1:32 left in overtime after sophomore Eric Marshall scored his 30th and 31st points.

Travis McGaughy made his fourth 3-pointer for ‘Iolani to close to 61-60 with 1:17 to go.

Garland Gantt made a follow-up after ‘Iolani blocked a shot to put Leilehua ahead 63-60 with 1:03 to go.

With 51 seconds left, Webster jumped from a couple of inches beyond the arc and hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 63.

Leilehua called time out with 41 seconds left to set up a possible game-winning shot. Gantt was working toward the basket when ‘Iolani freshman Derrick Low stripped him from behind.

"He had his back turned to me, and I went for the back steal," Low said.

Webster took off to the other side of the court and Low whipped the ball to him. Webster fairly flew the last 12 feet, Michael Jordan-like, and soft-touched a layup for a 65-63 Raider lead and 9.8 seconds left.

"I blocked out everything," Webster said. "Any way I could, I was going to win this game."

Bobby Nash blocked Gantt’s driving shot for a tie with 5 seconds left and ‘Iolani controlled the ball.

"We are lucky," ‘Iolani coach Mark Mugiishi said. "Their great defense forced us to rush our shots a little."

Marshall made 9 of 17 field-goal attempts and 13 of 14 free throws in a losing cause. He scored 12 of the Mules’ last 21 points and was overpowering from the high post.

McGaughy, coming off the bench as always, led ‘Iolani with 18 points. Low and Webster each scored 11.

‘Iolani (12-1, 20-4), second-seeded and champion of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu will play third-seeded Honoka‘a, unbeaten champion of the Big Island Intescholastic Federation, tonight at 8:30 at Stan Sheriff Center.

Leilehua, unseeded but beaten only once in 13 prior games since Jan. 1 (18-6 overall), goes into the consolation bracket this afternoon.

LEILEHUA 7 11 18 19 8 — 63
’IOLANI 11 8 19 17 10 — 65

‘IOLANI-Derrick Low 11, Travis McGaughy 18, Bobby Webster 11, Robert Mageo 7, Bronson Melemai 0, Bobby Nash 4, Tyler McCready 6, Jon Grobe 8.

LEILEHUA-Garland Gantt 6, Ricardo Bachelor 7, Joshua Jumawan 4, Clifton Feliciano 5, Mike Helgerson 6, John Dolac 4, Eric Marshall 31, Duon Adams 0.

3-point goals-‘Iolani 6 (McGaughy 4, Webster 2). Leilehua 1 (Bachelor)

Honoka‘a 51, Mililani 47: Honoka‘a High won its 20th straight game, overtaking Mililani in the fourth quarter to earn a berth in the semifinals.

About a hundred Honoka‘a fans were in the stands at McCabe Gym last night and "plenty more coming tonight. They had to work," said a fan who apparently played hooky from work and wouldn’t give his name.

Honoka‘a (14-0 and 23-4 overall) has lived by the 3-point shot this season and nearly died by it last night, but in the fourth quarter 5-foot-6 guard Derek Gabriel buried two in a row to give the Dragons leads of 42-40 and 47-41.

"I had to step it up," Gabriel said. "Our game is 3-pointers and we had a hard time in the beginning. I did it and it felt good."

With a six-point lead and less than four minutes to play, Honoka‘a coach Cheyenne Meyer ordered the Dragons to stall and it was nearly disastrous. Rashaun Broadus twice picked the pockets of Honoka‘a ball handlers and sped in for layups, closing the score to 47-45.

It stayed that way until 36.2 seconds left, when Gabriel drove into the lane and pulled up for an 8-foot jump shot and a 49-45 Honoka‘a lead.

Mililani closed to 49-47 on Trey Brown’s follow-up with 23 seconds left, but never got another shot.

"We were a little tight in the first half and we took too much throws," Meyer said. "But in the second half our 3s started dropping, and we started playing better defense and rebounding."

Rashaun Broadus and Hoku Patoc combined for 20 Mililani points in the first half, but only six in the second half.

Broadus led scorers with 16. Gabriel had 14 and 6-foot-5 Kaniela Aiona, a timely transfer from Kamehameha, and Austin Souza added 13 each for Honoka‘a.

Edward Aldridge was Honoka‘a’s key rebounder.

MILILANI 11 21 8 7 — 47
HONOKA‘A 12 12 15 12 — 51

MILILANI-Gary Deliz 4, Rashaun Broadus 16, Troy Wailehua 0, William Broadus 8, Andrew Min 2, Hoku Patoc 7, Kaipo Patoc 10, Trey Brown 0.

Honoka‘a-Derek Gabriel 14, Keola Nobriga 0, Kaniela Aiona 13, Austin Souza 13, Erwin Valenzuela 4, Kenny Ruiz 5, Edward Aldridge 2, Jeremy Moniz 0.

3-point goals- Mililani 2 (R. Broadus, K. Patoc). Honoka‘a 9 (Gabriel 4, Souza 3, Aiona, Ruiz).

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