McKinley rallies to defeat Kaimuki, 45-44, in overtime

McKinley players and coaches celebrate after defeating Kaimuki in overtime. Evan Asato | SL

Miranda Schmillen made 5 out of 8 free throws, 3 of them in the last 10 seconds of overtime, to lift McKinley past the Kaimuki in a thrilling 45-44 overtime victory.

"We gotta wanna play defense," said McKinley head coach, Abel Werner, "...keep them in front, and try and trap here and there, and it worked out."

Tiare Sugui knocked down two key 3-pointers at the end of the 4th quarter to force the game into overtime, as the Tigers rallied from a 9 points deficit with just under 4 minutes left in regulation.

Sugui knocked in her first 3-pointer to egde the Tigers' ever closer at 36-30, sparking a comeback that was capped off by Sugui's second 3-pointer to tie the game with less than 1 minute to play.

"Everyday before practice we spend about half-an-hour shooting three pointers and jump shots," said Tiara Sugui, "and that paid off."

The Bulldogs opened the game with 4-0 scoring run, and went go on a 7-point run to end the first half at 22-15.

Taisha Thomas' six third quarter points helped the Tigers keep pace with the Bulldogs, who continued to lead 31-24 at the end of three quarters of play.

It was at 36-27 when Sugui knocked in her first 3-pointer of the game to spark the comeback and help equalize the score at the end of the 4th quarter to pull into overtime.

"After half time we kind of put ourselves together and played team ball and recognizing what the goal was to be the team (Kaimuki)," said Sugui.

At the start of overtime, both sides exchanged free throws tying the score at 39-39 until McKinley's Sugui knocked in her third 3-pointer of the game to give the Tigers a 42-39 advantage. But Kaimuki's Princess Lauvao responded back with a 3-pointer of here to tie the score again at 42-42.

Then, with less than 50 seconds left, Lauvao's basket vaulted Kaimuki back into the lead at 44-42, but McKinley's Schmillen made both free throws after a foul by Kaimuki to tie the score again at 44-44.

With 8 seconds left in the first overtime, a foul by Kaimuki gave McKinley another chance at the free throw line. Schmillen would make good on the first attempt to give the Tigers the lead at 45-44, but missed the second attempt.

Lauvao grabbed the miss and hustled the ball downcourt and managed to get a jump shot off from the left side, but the attempt hit the side of the backboard and was rebounded by McKinley as time expired. 

Thomas led the Tigers with a game-high 14 points and Sugui added 11 points, including three from long distance.

Lauvao led the Bulldogs with 12 points.