Punahou players celebrate after an overtime win over Kahuku in the Division I semifinals. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Akahi Troske's putback with four seconds left in overtime gave the Buffanblu a 52-50 win in the semifinals of the Division I state basketball semifinals. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Fri, Feb 19, 2016 @ Stan Sheriff

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Punahou

52

Kahuku

50

F/OT	1	2	3	4	OT
Punahou (9-6, 27-9)	15	8	15	5	9	52
Kahuku (9-6, 18-13)	13	4	16	10	7	50

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

B. Anae 22 pts  4/5 FTs

C. Kobayashi 13 pts  3 3pm  0/0 FTs

B. Anae 21 tot  7 off  14 def

A. Troske 11 tot  5 off  6 def

C. Sauvao 2 ast

C. Mausolf 2 ast

MANOA – This one had Punahou's signature all over it.

After a long Interscholastic League of Honolulu season with playoffs for the regular season and overall championship, the Buffanblu played their second overtime game in three nights in fending off feisty Kahuku, 52-50, in Friday night's semifinals of the OC16 Division I boys' basketball state tournament.

‘Akahi Troske's putback with four seconds left in OT was followed by a last-ditch layup by Hirkley Latu that missed at the buzzer.

The Buffanblu will meet rival and No. 1 Iolani for the Division I championship Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center. This will be their fifth meeting of the season with Iolani winning three, including the ILH championship that landed the Raiders the tournament's top seed.

Whether it's extra games or extra periods, this was Punahou basketball.

"Would you expect anything different?" Punahou coach Darren Matsuda said. "It's just the way this team does things, I guess. They like to give me a lot of gray hairs."

In Wednesday's opening round, Punahou beat Leilehua 51-47, in OT.

It was only appropriate the game have a thrilling finish after a highly competitive game throughout regulation, which ended at 43-all. Bradlee Anae's short bank shot with 26 seconds knotted the game even. Punahou had the ball with six seconds, but Kiernan Spencer stole the inbounds pass and Kahuku called time with 4.7 seconds, but Troske's steal denied the Red Raiders from attempting any shot.

Troske's game winner was only his fourth point of the game, but his team-leading 11 rebounds prevented Kahuku from secondary shots that might have given it the lead earlier in regulation.

Chris Kobayashi and Zayne Chong– each with three 3-pointers – led the Buffanblu with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Both drained 3s when Kahuku pulled to within 2 on two occasions during regulation.

But Kahuku's 6-foot-5 Anae and and 6-4 Latu (16 points) – both members of the Red Raiders' state champion football team -refused to let the Red Raiders lose. Anae scored 18 of his game-high 22 points after the second half. He pulled down a staggering 21 rebounds, 14 on the defensive side.

"He was a beast," Matsuda said. "He's a very strong kid. Both him and Hirk (Latu) are. They're a very physical team, that's why they're tough. They're the most physical team we've played all year."

Anae was 2 of 6 from the field in the first half.

"Early on he had trouble," Kahuku's interim coach Brandyn Akana said. "Was was impatient, but towards the end of the game, second half, he was a beast. That's what we expect out of him. These type of kids don't stop fighting and that was it."

That would be pretty physical considering the Buffanblu had to face the likes of 6-9 Hugh Hogland of Iolani and 6-6 Tristan Nichols of Saint Louis during the season.

The game was close through most of regulation, but it appeared Punahou had control. Twice the Red Raiders would pull to within two and each time the Buffanblu kept Kahuku at bay with a 3-pointer. The first came when Kahuku pulled to 35-33 after an Anae jumper capped a 9-0 run by the Red Raiders. But Chong's 3-pointer with three seconds left in the quarter opened the Buffanblu lead to five.

The second came in the fourth quarter when Anae (again) putback a missed Latu shot that pulled Kahuku to 38-36 with 6:14 left. At 4:44, Kobayashi's 3-pointer and later his dribble-drive basket opened Punahou's lead to 43-36 at 3:27.

Kahuku kept chipping away with a 5-0 run to make it a one-possession game with 1:03 left.

Chong missed the front end of a bonus, but Troske (again) pulled down the offensive board and the Buffanblu called time with 47 seconds left. Shortly after the inbound, the Buffanblu turned over the ball and Kahuku called time with 43 seconds. Anae's banker with 26 seconds left tied the game and it stayed that way after both teams turned over the ball in the remaining seconds of regulation to force overtime.

"This game, we actually saw our nerves a little bit," Matsuda said. "We had a good lead, then we were playing not to lose instead of playing to win. I told our kids in overtime, we've been through this some many times; we gotta play to win, no matter what happens, we're a family and we're going to win or lose as a family. Whatever happens, happens."

Punahou controlled the tipoff of the OT and Jared Lum's layup put the Buffanblu ahead, 45-43. Chong's 3-pointer with 2:17 increased Punahou's lead to 5.

With 1:51 left, Latu missed two free throws, but the ubiquitous Anae put back the second missed free throw to pull Kahuku to 48-45.

With Punahou in a double bonus, Chong made both free throws with 1:12 left to make 50-45.

Anae made two free throws with 44 seconds left to pull Kahuku to within a 3-pointer. Anae then grabbed a defensive rebound after Troske missed his second free throw with 28 seconds. That led to Keanu Akina's 3-pointer with 17 seconds left in OT to tie the game at 50. Cole Arceneaux missed a jumper, but 6-6 senior center Troske was there for the rebound and put in the game-winning shot.

"It's was great for our team," Matsuda said. "It's kind of the story of our team. Troske, he's fighting. Really, he's playing through a lot of pain. He's giving everything he's got because it's his last year."

On the other side, it was a heart breaker for the Red Raiders, who entered the tournament as the OIA's fifth representative. Had they won, they would have been the lowest unseeded team to reach the finals.

Still, it was a Kahuku-strong finish for a team that started the season in turmoil, ironically, starting with the Punahou Invitational in December. Some players boycotted some games because they felt that then-coach Alan Akina favored his sons, Keanu and Kawika, playing. Although Akina won a judgment to be reinstated before the season ended, he elected to allow Akana to finish the season so as not to be a distraction.

"I love these boys and that's why I did it," Akana said of filling in the interim. "I did it for the kids because I felt bad for them, so hat's off to the boys."