Farrington beats Kalaheo, 69-62, for third place in Smith Classic

Farrington's Tua Unutoa drives to the basket against Kalaheo. Greg Yamamoto | SL

KAILUA - Kaleb Gilmore returned to the court for the first time in the Pete Smith Basketball Classic and scored 24 points for Kalaheo, but it wasn't enough as Farrington scored inside and outside in a 69-62 victory for third place at Kalaheo's gym.

Jake Smith led Farrington with 19 points, including four of his team's nine 3-point field goals. Ranan Mamiya followed with 12 points, including 2 3-pointers, with four assists. Tua Unutoa had 11 of his team's 24 rebounds to along with his eight points.

While Farrington was hot from the perimeter, it also scored 22 points in the paint.

Kalaheo still played without the injured Kupaa Harrison (ankle), but Gilmore returned from a concussion and looked like his usual self. He had 15 of his points in the second half and was 9 of 9 from the free throw line.

The game was basically close the first half. Kalaheo pulled to 28-27 on Kekai Smith's 3-pointer with 28 seconds left in the second quarter, but Farrington responded a trey from Kapono Kakalia to give his team a 31-27 lead at the break.

Even though Kalaheo opened the second half on 3-pointers by Zachary Marotte and Smith, Farrington still managed to pull away, taking a 50-39 lead into the fourth quarter.

Kalaheo pulled to within 65-60 with 48 seconds left on Gilmore's two free throws, but all it could muster was a put-back shot by MacLeod the rest of the way to pull to 67-62. Jake Smith sealed the game when he scored off a turnover in the closing seconds.

The two OIA East Division I teams could face again in this week's Punahou Invitational. They are on the opposite sides of the same bracket and could meet in the semifinals.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].