A stitch in time helped Kiron Jabour win the Billabong Junior Pro In Memory of Ronnie Burns contest in the nick of time yesterday.

Surfing with six stitches in his right foot, Jabour won the men's final with a clutch wave in the closing seconds.

"I needed a score and I got that last wave at the last minute," said Jabour, 18. "I had fun heats all day; the waves were firing. Stoked to take a win at a local break."

The final day of the two-day contest was run in solid 3- to 5-foot waves at Sunset Beach. The event featured more than 60 elite surfers age 20 and younger, from Hawai'i and California.

Jabour, who lives near Sunset Beach, cut his right foot while practicing for the contest on Monday. He received the stitches that day, and was worried he would not be able to compete in the contest.

But as one of the top seeds, he did not have to compete in the opening rounds on Tuesday.

"That helped," Jabour said. "I was ready to surf (on Tuesday), but I'm happy I didn't have to. It gave me one more day to get ready."

Jabour went out yesterday and won the final in dramatic fashion.

He trailed throughout the 30-minute heat, and took the lead with his last wave in the final 10 seconds of the heat. As the time was winding down, Jabour paddled into a small wave and tucked into a brief barrel ride.

The judges rewarded him with a score of 5.9 (out of 10), which was enough to put him into first place. His two-wave total for the heat was 12.4.

"I thought I was too deep," Jabour said. "I thought it was going to crumble and not get a barrel at all. But then I came right and timed it and squeezed through a little barrel. Stoked I got the score I needed."

Until the closing seconds, it was a frustrating final for Jabour. Waves were consistent earlier in the day, but were few and far between during the final.

"That heat was really inconsistent," he said. "I only got two waves, really, the whole heat and it was a 30-minute heat."

Jabour, a 2009 graduate of Elite Element Academy, received $2,500 for the victory.

Albee Layer of Maui placed second with a two-wave score of 11.6. He also caught a wave in the closing seconds, and received a score of 5.0 — which was 0.8 shy of what he needed to beat Jabour.

Layer was the standout of the earlier rounds, posting high scores in the quarterfinals and semifinals.

"The final was really slow, the slowest heat I had all day, for sure," said Layer, 18. "I'm pretty bummed I didn't win, but still psyched I had a good contest."

Cory Arrambide of California placed third, and Alex Smith of Kaua'i was fourth.

The contest was a qualifier for the Billabong Junior World Championship at Australia in January. Jabour and Layer are in position to qualify for the junior world championship contest, but there is still one more qualifying event next month.

Yesterday's contest was held in honor of Ronnie Burns, a standout North Shore surfer who died in a motorcycle accident in 1990.

FINAL RESULTS

1, Kiron Jabour (O'ahu), $2,500. 2, Albee Layer (Maui), $1,200. 3, Cory Arrambide (California), $1,100. 4, Alex Smith (Kaua'i), $1,000. 5 (tie), Kolohe Andino (California) and Tanner Hendrickson (Maui), $600. 7 (tie), Quinn McCrystal (California) and Andrew Doheny (California), $500. 9 (tie), Kyle Galtes (Kaua'i), Nathan Carvalho (Kaua'i), Billy Kemper (Maui), Isaac Stant (Maui), $300. 13 (tie), Keanu Asing (O'ahu), Eli Olson (O'ahu), Dane Zaun (California), Kainoa Haas (O'ahu), $200.