Mililani's Noel Bueno puts up a shot against Waianae. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Waianae's Bronson Brown-Kaopua puts up a shot between two Mililani defenders. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Waianae's Josh Searles heads to the basket for a layup attempt against Mililani. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Mililani's Elijah Butler puts up a jump shot against Waianae. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Thu, Jan 30, 2014 @ Mililani

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Waianae

64

Mililani

67

F/2OT	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT
Waianae (7-3, 8-9)	14	11	13	13	10	3	64
Mililani (10-3, 15-12)	14	17	6	14	10	6	67

N. Bueno 19 pts  3 3pm  0/6 FTs

B. Brown-Kaopua 26 pts  6/8 FTs

MILILANI — Noel Bueno scored 15 of his team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter and overtime periods to lead Mililani to an exhilarating 67-64 double-overtime win over Waianae in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Western Division game Thursday night.

The Trojans rallied from a five-point deficit midway through the first overtime and scored the final four points of the second overtime to improve to 7-2 in the Red West, good for second place. The Seariders dropped their second straight game to fall to 6-3.

"Both of us had two losses and whoever loses goes down to third (place), maybe fourth, because we're all tight (in the standings) so we needed this," Mililani coach Ed Gonzales said. "Like I told the boys in that first overtime when we were in foul trouble and I think (Waianae) went up by five, we could have fell apart, but we actually bonded together, we actually started to make some baskets."

Bueno hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 61 at the end of the first overtime. Mililani slowed its pace significantly on offense in the second extra period, holding the ball on the opening possession for more than a minute before Elijah Butler scored on a reverse layup to put his team up, 63-61. However, Austin Thomas answered with a 3-pointer from the right corner to put the Waianae back ahead by a point with two minutes and 25 seconds to play.

The Trojans got an answer from Jeremy Rozmeski, who hit a trey from the right wing on their ensuing possession. The Seariders turned it over on their next two trips down the floor and Butler hit a free-throw with 12 seconds left to close out the scoring. Waianae had two chances to tie it in the final seconds, but Cody Sison sealed the victory for Mililani with his steal of a three-quarter court inbounds pass as the final buzzer went off.

Gonzales said the key in the second overtime was his team's patience and shot selection.

"We're more guard-strong than I think they are — we're a little quicker — so that's why we kind of pulled it out and we wanted to take our shots," Gonzales said.

Bueno scored 12 points in the fourth quarter alone — all but two of Mililani's points in the period. He made three 3-pointers for the game.

"Noel gives us that energy — he gives us some negatives, but he also gives us a lot of positives — and I like that," Gonzales said. "Him playing with us last year and having the chance to get some minutes then helps him this year."

Mililani led at halftime, 31-25, but was outscored by Waianae in the third quarter, 13 to 6, and trailed by one to start the fourth. A 3-pointer by Bueno with 4:25 left in the fourth put the Trojans up, 49-43, but Waianae closed out regulation on an 8-2 run to send it into the first overtime.

"My senior leadership that we count on to lead us at crucial times was key in that fourth quarter, but unfortunately we missed free throws again and the free throws kept the game close."

The Trojans were just 8 of 23 from the free-throw line. Butler finished with 15 points and Rozmeski contributed 10.

Gonzales said the experienced gained from several tightly-contested games earlier this season helped his team finish Thursday.

"All of our games that we played in the preseason — all the close ones that we lost — it benefitted today," Gonzales said. "We had an overtime game against Saint Louis — we lost that one — and that kind of helped us in this one. Like I told the boys in the locker room, nothing is going to be easy."

Waianae coach John Simbahon credited Mililani, but said his team made several critical errors down the stretch, as well.

"They're a good team, we just made those couple mistakes at the end of the game," Simbahon said.

Bronson Brown-Kaopua scored 26 points to lead Waianae. Josh Searles added 15 points and Thomas chipped in 11 for the Seariders, who wrap up the regular season against Campbell Saturday. Mililani hosts Leilehua in its Western Division finale that same night.

Note: Campbell clinched the Red West title with its 51-28 win over Pearl City Thursday. The Sabers have a two-game lead over the Trojans with one game to play.