Updated at 11:08 p.m., Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Kaimuki squeezes past Saint Louis to gain D1 semis
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
championship hype from the opening tip to the final buzzer, Kaimuki held off Saint Louis, 53-51, tonight before a screaming crowd of about 1,200 at Radford's James Alegre Gym.
The O'ahu Interscholastic Association champion and No. 2-seeded Bulldogs, ranked No. 4 in The Advertiseršs statewide Top 10 poll of coaches and media, improved to 12-5 in the regular and post-season and will face Big Island Interscholastic Federation champ and No. 3 seed Kamehameha-Hawai'i (16-2) in tomorrow's semifinals.
Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. at Stan Sheriff Center, and the game will be televised live statewide on OC-16.
Saint Louis (13-4) had three chances to tie last night's game in the final seconds, but was denied each time.
First, the Crusaders missed a short fall-in banker from the left side and grabbed the rebound, but stepped on the baseline with 2.9 seconds remaining.
They got the ball back, however, when Kaimuki was called for traveling on the ensuing inbounds play.
Saint Louis forward Scott Smith then grabbed a lob pass in the lane and was fouled with 1.1 seconds left. He missed the first of two free throws and missed the second one on purpose, and a teammate grabbed the rebound.
But the putback attempt clipped the bottom of the backboard on the way up as the buzzer sounded.
"We definitely had our chances at the end, we can't complain about that," said Crusaders coach Delbert Tengan, whose team finished third in the fiercely compeititive Interscholastic League of Honolulu and is ranked No. 3 in The Advertiser poll. "They made the plays when they had to, and we didn't
make our plays at the end, and that's what it came down to. It was a great game, but somebody's gotta lose."
As expected, the matchup was tight, intense and back-and-forth from beginning to end. Neither team led by more than four points in the first half, which ended with Kaimuki up, 22-18, after Brandon Madambašs 3-pointer with one second left.
Kaimuki was led by Beau Albrechtson, who scored 22 points. Keone Reyes added 13 and Daniel Colon 11 for the Bulldogs.
Saint Louis was led by Solomona Aigamaua (14) and Smith (13). Cole Shidaki added 10.
