Chase for the Championship
No. 4 Maryknoll outlasts No. 6 Hilo, 70-66


Maryknoll's Maegen Martin scored 21 points against the Vikings in Wednesday's quarter final match. Peter Caldwell | SL

SALT LAKE— In a high-scoring, frantic-paced game, No. 4 Maryknoll outlasted No. 6 Hilo, 70-66 in the New City Nissan/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Girls Basketball State Championship quarterfinals at Moanalua on Wednesday night.

The third-seeded Lady Spartans will take on second-seeded Lahainaluna on Thursday in the semifinals at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium at 5 p.m. The Vikings will play Radford at Moanalua at 7 p.m.

"This wasn't our best game, I know we could do better. We have to come out hard and Lahainaluna is a different team from Hilo," said Maryknoll foward/center Maegen Martin.

The Vikings trailed by as much as four throughout the fourth. Shalyn Guthier hit a 3-pointer with 34.4 seconds remaining as the Vikings trailed, 68-66 . Alexis Delovio's shot rimmed out and Hilo got the ball back with 16.1 seconds and called a timeout.

After the ball went out after Delovio's block with 6.6 seconds left, the Vikings inbounded the ball to Guthier who had a good 3-point look near the top, but it didn't fall as Rhianne Omori secured the rebound and passed it to Ysabelle Halemano, who was fouled immediately.

"They definitely stepped up with a couple minutes left. I picked up that last foul and was disappointed. I knew they could pull it together," said Martin.

With 0.7 seconds left, Halemano sank both free throws for the exclamation point.

"I told them after the game, it's a testament to some of the games we grinded out throughout the season. Give credit to Hilo, they kept battling and kept fighting," said Maryknoll coach Chico Furtado.

"We are proud of them and their effort," said Hilo coach Ben Pana. "I'm proud of these kids, they worked hard."

Martin led Maryknoll with 21 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out with 52.6 seconds remaining in the fourth. Delovio added 16 points, three assists, Omori chipped in 12 points and Lindsey Lee scored 10 points and went 2 of 6 from the 3-point line.

"Coach said I had to work down there in the post. We were able to get into our offense, ran the plays, and found me in the paint. That's all I can hope for and for them to take good shots," said Martin.

"She had to be the rock in the post, she did a good job," said Furtado, on Martin.

Guthier scored a game-high 25 points and shot 11 of 11 from the free throw line. Chailey Cabalis added 10 points before fouling out and Alexis Pana had nine before fouling out early in the fourth.

"She was a beast today," said Pana, on Guthier. "Words cannot explain how she plays for her teammates and for the program. That's the things we see her do in practice, it's nice to see it transfer over to the games."

It was back-and-forth in the third quarter and Hilo took a 50-47 lead after a putback from Cierra Kelii. Lee hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 50 to head to the fourth. Maryknoll shot 7 of 18 from the 3-point line for the game.

"If there are guards open on the 3, I believed they could make it and woke up today and I'm happy they did," said Martin.

"Lindsey, Rhianne, Lexi hit a couple, we struggled from the line all year so that helped open it up so Maegen could work in the post," said Furtado.

The Vikings shot 19 of 24 (79.1 percent) from the free throw line, 10 of 12 in the first half and 9 of 12 in the second. The Lady Spartans shot 21 of 30 (70 percent) for the game, 10 of 13 in the first half, 11 of 17 in the second.

The Vikings took the lead for the first time in the second after Cabalis hit a pair of free throws to make it, 21-19. Mandi Kawaha hit a 3-pointer to push the lead to 26-20 and Maryknoll called a full timeout. The Lady Spartans scored eight-straight points and tied the game at 28 after Omori inbounded the ball to Martin. Hilo led 31-30 at halftime.

"That was the game plan coming in—we're built to run. Unfortunately we had some mental and defensive breakdowns. But overall we did well," said Pana.



Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].