Buzzer-beater lifts Montrose Christian over Iolani in OT
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
Iolani's boys basketball team came within an eyelash of the biggest upset in Hawai'i high school hoops history last night, denied only after Taishi Ito of Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.) swished a 22-foot basket as time expired for a 42-41 overtime victory.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
The quarterfinal game of the Iolani Prep Classic ended with many in the capacity crowd of 1,050 on their feet.
Montrose Christian's Herb Pope (14) attempts to block a shot by Iolani's Derrick Low. Low scored on the play.
Montrose Christian, one of America's most storied basketball programs, is ranked No. 7 in the nation by USA Today.
Iolani was up 42-40 after Derrick Low sank the front-end of a one-and-one with eight seconds remaining. But Low's second free throw rimmed out, and the Mustangs (4-0) worked the ball up on the right wing to Ito, who had not taken a 3-point shot all night.
"We work on the buzzer-beater every day in practice, and that was not a lucky shot," said Montrose coach Stu Vetter, one of the nation's winningest coaches. "Taishi had one of the best defensive games I've ever had guarding Derrick Low, so with his focus tonight, if there is one player tonight that I would have wanted to take that shot, it was him."
The 6-foot-1 Low, who led all scorers with 16 points, pulled the Raiders (8-1) to 39-38 with 1:55 left on a spinning, 180-degree reverse scoop shot over Montrose's 6-foot-11 Tunji Sorye. Low then sank a 12-foot jumper to put Iolani up 40-39 with one minute remaining.
"Derrick is a great player, and Iolani played a terrific ball game," Vetter said. "If we had to lose to a Hawai'i team, I would rather lose to them than any other team. They're not just a great team in Hawai'i, they're a great team in America."
Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2456.
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Montrose (2-0) 15 7 6 8 6—42
Iolani (1-1) 16 8 4 8 5—41
Montrose—Uche Echefu 12, Tunji Sorye 10, Taishi Ito 7, Antwan Hardy 6, KJ Matsui 5, Tom Hammond 2, Herb Pope 0, Jeff Pack 0.
Iolani—Derrick Low 16, Zach Tollefson 8, Kyle Pape 7, Ryan Hirata 6, Jon Yasuda 2, Jon Takamura 2, Todd Blankenship 0, Kawika Shoji 0, Sean Carney 0, James Street 0.
3-point goals: Montrose—4 (Hardy 2, Ito 1, Matsui 1). Iolani—6 (Hirata 2, Tollefson 2, Low 1, Pape 1).
Mid-Pacific (1-1) 14 5 13 22 12—66
Kalani (0-2) 15 22 9 8 4—58
Leading scorers: MPI— Chris Perry 19, Travis Tyler 19, Josh Mitchell 15, Chris Freshour 10. Kal— Jason Deguzman 12, Cory Konishi 11, Carsen Chun 10, Jonah Leteto 10. 3-pointers: MPI—2-13 (Chris Freshour 2-3, Ryan Chun 0-1, JD Lum 0-2, Josh Mitchell 0-2, Travis Tyler 0-1, Chris Perry 0-4). Kal— 3-9 (Jonah Letoto 2-4, Carsen Chun 1-2, Dusten Umeda 0-2, Kellen Kashiwa 0-1).
MOANALUA (1-1) 16 12 12 20—60
HAMILTON (0-2) 12 16 14 17—59
Leading scorers: Ham— Brian Schaffer 16, Luis Arrieta 10. Moa— Eric Keys 19, Darin-Jay Shinagawa 14, Joseph Nishimura 12. 3-pointer: Ham— 3-12 (Travis Dixon 1-3, Brian Schaffer 1-4, Roy Prieto 1-4, Innocent Wells 0-1). Moa—5-8 (Shinagawa 4-7, Jonathan Austad 1-1).
St. John's (1-0) 26 14 14 23—77
Punahou (0-1) 13 14 10 13—50
Leading scorers: St.J— Nolan Smith 22, Dwayne Anderson 21, Dante Cunningham 12. Pun— Jeremiah Ostrowski 17. 3-pointers: St.J— 5-12 (Jay Bluford 1-1, Anderson 2-4, Jordan Armstrong 1-2, Chris Wright 1-4, Nolan Smith 0-1). Pun—6-20 (Jeremiah Ostrowski 3-9, Reid Fowler 2-5, Robby Shklov 1-1, Danny Cho 0-2, Scott Otake 0-3).
