Boys Basketball
St. Francis edges Kalaheo, 59-56, wins Sabers tourney


  



Sat, Dec 1, 2012 @ Campbell


Final 1 2 3 4  
Saint Francis (9-0, 25-5) 11 13191659
Kalaheo (14-0, 28-4) 10 12 20 1456
K. Zuttermeister 15 pts  2 3pm
S. Lynton 15 pts

'EWA BEACH - Blayne Won had seven of his 13 points in the fourth quarter and Saint Francis edged Kalaheo, 59-56, Saturday night to capture the Campbell Sabers boys' basketball tournament.

Shabir Lynton led with 15 points, nine coming in the third quarter, for the Saints, who play in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's Division II.

Kalei Zutermeister led the Mustangs with 15 points followed by Derick Morgan's 12. The defending Division II state champion Mustangs will be playing in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red East, which is Division I, this season.

The Mustangs pulled to 58-56 with 10 seconds left when Morgan sank two free throws. But Kalaheo had to foul to get the ball back and Keola Kealoha made 1 of 2 free throws in a double-bonus situation to give the Saints a three-point lead with seven seconds left. Silia Tucker's 3-point attempt from right wing fell short as time ran out.

"If we played as well as we did defensively and made our free throws, we kept us in the game," Saint Francis coach Sol Batoon said.

Matthew Nuumanaia, who is 6 feet, 6 inches tall, came up with some crucial rebounds in the fourth quarter to keep the the Mustangs from at bay.

"He played with four fouls at the end," Batoon said. "He's a smart player and he understands what he has to do."

Kalaheo, which trailed most of the game, took a 51-50 lead with two minutes, two seconds left in the game after Morgan sank two free throws. But the Saints took the lead for good when Won scored five points in a two-second span.

He scored on a layup with 1:24 to put his team ahead, 52-51 and was fouled in the process. He missed the ensuing free throw, but scored off his own rebound and was again fouled in the process. This time he made his free throw to make it 55-51.

But Kalaheo labored with some missed layups and a 5-for-10 stretch at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.

"We came out to a slow start; they (the Saints) were really aggressive," Kalaheo coach Alika Smith said. "Credit goes to them. They were ready to play. When you dig yourself in a hole, you have to try to dig yourself out of it and a lot of things have to go right. And things didn't go right down the stretch with missed free throws and layups.

But Smith was pleased with his team's effort.

"I was proud (that) they fought back after a sluggish start and we made it a game," Smith said.

The Mustangs were without 6-6 Nainoa Frank, who injured his knee during football season. Smith said Frank is getting a second opinion and is unsure of his return.

"We're a little smaller (without Frank), so we have to do the fundamentals of boxing out," Smith said. "Doing simple things that we take for granted. This generation is a different generation; they think it's all show. We have to go back to fundamentals and take it from there. But these boys have worked hard to his point. I told them it's still early. This is not a sprint. We still have our goals."



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].




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