Former Maryknoll coach Tony Sellitto looks on as the Spartans take on Port Moody. Brien Ing | SL

Purchase image 1 of 2

Maryknoll's Tyler Brooke puts up a shot in the paint against Port Moody. Brien Ing | SL

Purchase image 2 of 2

Wed, Dec 23, 2015 @ Maryknoll

---

Port Moody

32

Maryknoll

42

Final	1	2	3	4
Port Moody	11	6	11	4	32
Maryknoll (3-8, 20-10)	9	5	13	15	42

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

H. Kamata 10 pts  2 3pm

I Kriznik 12 pts  1 3pm

B. Washington 2 tot  2 def

B. Washington 2 ast

I Kriznik 2 ast

MAKIKI — Maryknoll came alive in the second half to top Port Moody, 42-32 in the inaugural Tony Sellitto Hawaiian Island Basketball Challenge at Clarence T.C. Ching Gymnasium Wednesday afternoon.

The three-day invitational, which began on Monday, was named in honor of the coach that turned the Spartans from a fledgling program in the mid-1960s into a perennial contender for two decades. Sellitto guided his teams to seven Interscholastic League of Honolulu AA titles, one state AA crown and three state A championships. 

The first year of the tourney included nine boys teams and four girls teams. The field included a handful of squads from British Columbia.

Sellitto, who coached current Maryknoll coach Kelly Grant and co-athletic director Ben Valle, was sitting courtside to watch the Spartans take on the visiting Blues from Vancouver on the final day of the tourney.

"We always want to try and do something special for him because he's taken care of us over the years," said Grant. "Hopefully it gets a little bigger in the future. This is our first time running a tournament here so there's going to be some mistakes here and there on how we run things. Hopefully we can increase the competition in the coming years." 

The tournament joined the list of the many preseason tourneys that is named after a former coach, which includes the Pete Smith Classic at Kalaheo and the James Alegre Invitational at Radford. 

"I'm really thrilled to have something named after me," said Sellitto, who is 78. "I can't remember who I was talking to, but when they were mentioning Pete and those other guys that have tournaments named after them, I said ‘I hope they don't name one after me when I'm dead because I won't even know about it.' At least they named it after me when I'm alive — so maybe I just got lucky that Ben Valle did that, which is kind of cool."

Sellitto also said he's hoping to get a couple of teams from France in the tournament's second year. Grant added that one of the top Class 5A teams from Oregon has already committed to play in next year's tourney.

Port Moody coach Troy Cunningham was happy with his team's experience on Oahu. 

"The kids had a great time," he said. "It was hard to get used to playing without the 30-second shot clock like we do in Canada, but it was a good experience for us. Even if we didn't have any basketball it's always great to visit Hawaii."

The Spartans (14-1), ranked eighth in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Boys Basketball Power Rankings, utilized their depth in the contest and had 14 players in the final box score. They also played five freshmen from the junior varsity team in the game.

With players filling in at unfamiliar positions, Maryknoll committed five live ball turnovers in the first half and trailed 17-9 at one point before the break. The Spartans struggled offensively in the second quarter and went without a basket until there was 73 seconds left in the period. 

"In the first half we had some kids that were unsure where they were supposed to be in some of our offensive sets," said Grant.

The contest also gave the Maryknoll players a lesson in mid-game adjustments. The Spartans ran a particular defense that emphasized defending perimeter players one step outside of the 3-point line. The only problem was Port Moody was knocking down triples from two steps beyond the arc, shooting 5-for-11 from 3-point land in the first half.

"I was telling them in the locker room you have to make an adjustment," said Grant. "If the guy hits it from two steps out, you have to adjust to that. You have to move out on that so they put the ball on the ground. When he comes to the basket, we have (6-foot-6 post) Brian Washington at the basket that can block shots.

"If you just stay off of them and they keep shooting 3-point shots, we're not utilizing our best player that's underneath the basket. It's just a matter of the kids figuring things out and not waiting for the coaching staff to make adjustments for them." 

To their credit, the Spartans found their groove in the second half to turn back the Blues. Maryknoll made it a one-point game at the end of three quarters and used a 12-0 run in the final period to take control of the game. 

Washington's three-point play gave the Spartans the lead for good with 5:04 left in regulation. Hayato Kamata, who led the team in scoring with 10 points, followed Washington's strong move with two steals for four quick points. Michael Mercado-Smith capped the 12-0 run with a corner trey to make it 39-30 in favor of Maryknoll. 

Igor Kriznik led Port Moody in the loss with a game-high 12 points. Cunningham's son, Kaito, led the 3-point barrage with 11 points on three triples and added five boards, three assists and four steals. 

The Spartans will take a short break from the preseason tournaments and have their first full practice in over two weeks on Thursday before taking on Kahuku in the first round of the Punahou Basketball Invitational Saturday at 11 a.m.