Maryknoll's Kaleb Gilmore drives to the basket against Iolani. Jessica Oda | Special to SL

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Maryknoll teammates celebrate with Joshua Burnett after making the game winning layup against Iolani. Jonas Maon | Special to SL

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Iolani's Erik Yamada puts up a shot against Maryknoll. Jessica Oda | Special to SL

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Maryknoll's Joshua Burnett takes a shot attempt against Iolani's Hugh Hogland. Jessica Oda | Special to SL

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Evan Asato | SL

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Wed, Jan 29, 2014 @ Maryknoll

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Iolani

37

Maryknoll

39

Final	1	2	3	4
Iolani (10-3, 23-7)	6	13	12	8	37
Maryknoll (10-3, 26-6)	12	7	11	9	39

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

K. Gilmore 13 pts  3 3pm  2/2 FTs

Z. Buscher 16 pts  8/8 FTs

J. Burnett 9 tot  2 off  7 def

I. Phillip 7 tot  7 def

S. Ogata 2 ast

Z. Buscher 2 ast

MAKIKI - In a finish for the ages, Josh Burnett's buzzer-beating layup lifted No. 1 Maryknoll over No. 3 'Iolani, 39-37, Wednesday night at the Clarence T.C. Ching Gymnasium.

A crowd of about 400 at Maryknoll's senior night went wild after watching one of the most improbable finishes that kept the Spartans (7-1) in sole possession of first place in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I race. The Spartans can clinch the regular season title with a win at Punahou, 3 p.m. Saturday.

'Iolani called time with nine seconds left with the game tied at 37. Erik Yamada inbounded the ball to Zach Buscher along the near sideline. Buscher, who was double teamed, passed to Zach Gelacio near the free-throw line. But Maryknoll's Michael Miske got a hand on the ball and knocked it to Sean Ogata, who was falling and still managed to flip the ball off to Burnett. Burnett raced about two-thirds the length of the court with his game-winning layup.

"First of all, it was just good team defense by everybody," said Burnett, deflecting credit to teammates on the play. "Sean got the steal and he tossed it right up to me; it was just perfect. I got the ball and went straight to the rim. I didn't know how much time was left. I just went."

Great defense indeed. In a situation where Maryknoll was just looking for a stop, it not only forced a turnover, but scored. There were so many thoughts in such a short time span. When Ogata got the ball, Maryknoll coach Kelly Grant said he was about to call a timeout.

"When Josh got the ball, I just let him go," Grant said.

Burnett, who leads Division I scorers averaging 20 points per game, had just nine points before his game winning shot. That was in part to the defensive play by Buscher, Grant said.

"To me, that's poetic justice," Grant said of Burnett's game winner. "This is probably Josh's worst game, so to win the game on a last-second layup."

The Spartans used a man-to-man defense on the inbounds play.

"That way, we can eliminate some of the easy scores off the inbounds plays," he said.

The loss was painful to 'Iolani (6-2), which need a win to pull them into a three-way tie for first with the Spartans and Punahou (6-2). Instead, 'Iolani falls to third with two to play.

The Raiders took a 37-34 lead with 1:03 left after Buscher converted both ends of a one-and-one. But Kaleb Gilmore, who led the Spartans with 13 points, drained his third 3-pointer of the game with 56 seconds left to tie the game at 37.

'Iolani worked the ball down court and called time with nine seconds left. The Raiders were trying to set up Buscher for the game winner, but the Spartans defense tightened up and the Raiders were never able to get off a shot.

"We wanted to take the last shot, obviously, make sure if we don't get something, we'll go into overtime," Raiders' coach Dean Shimamoto said. "But (Burnett) made a play. He went down the court in about three seconds."

The Raiders got off to a slow start, shooting just 2 of 8 from the field in the first quarter. Their two field goals came more than six minutes apart, as Maryknoll took a 12-6 lead after the first period.

The Spartans kept their six-point advantage with three minutes left in the half after Gilmore's second 3-pointer of the half. But the Raiders' defense shutout the Spartans the rest of the half. 'Iolani had six unanswered points - from 6-of-6 free-throw shooting - to tie the game at 19 at the half.

'Iolani took control of the third period, taking its widest lead of the game at 31-26 with 1:58 left. But Maryknoll scored on successive layups by Burnett and Micah McGivern to pull within one entering the final quarter.

The defenses of both teams took over the first half of the fourth period. Maryknoll broke the drought with 3:40 left when Gilmore's two free throws gave the Spartans back the lead at 32-31.

The Raiders regained the lead with 3:06 after Buscher made two free throws. They increased their lead about minute later when Robert Mann scored on a layup to make it 35-32. Maryknoll cut its deficit to one with 1:05 left when Kamakana Winquist made both his free throws.

'Iolani increased its lead to three again after Buscher's free throws, only to see the Spartans tie the game on Gilmore's 3-pointer.

Buscher led all scorers with 16 points for the Raiders.

"It was very good defense down the end," Burnett said. "We got the shots, made our free throws. Kaleb made a big shot. It was a team effort down the end. That's how we won the game."