Farrington's Isaiah Visoria heads to the basket for a layup attempt against Mililani. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Farrington players celebrate after a quarterfinal win over Mililani. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Mililani's Cody Sison drives to the basket against Farrington. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Mililani's Noel Bueno defends a shot attempt by Farrington's Jacob McEnroe. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Farrington's Jacob McEnroe puts up a jump shot against Mililani. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Thu, Feb 20, 2014 @ Radford

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Mililani

44

Farrington

46

Final	1	2	3	4
Mililani (24-12, 15-12)	12	17	8	0	44
Farrington (31-9, 26-5)	12	11	15	0	46

SEASON LEADERS

Jacob McEnroe 14.6 ppg  14 3pm  53.8 FT%

Elijah Butler 14.8 ppg  1 3pm  59.6 FT%

ALIAMANU – It was never over until the final buzzer sounded. 

Farrington, ranked No. 3 in the ScoringLive/OC16 Boys Basketball Power Rankings, survived elimination with a 46-44 win over Mililani in the quarterfinal round of the Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Division I Boys Basketball Championships at Radford’s Jim Alegre Gymnasium Thursday night.

“It took a lot of teamwork,” said Farrington’s Jacob McEnroe. “Even though we had all those turnovers, we had to talk. It felt so good (to get the win).”

Mililani punched their ticket into the quarterfinals with a 70-62 win over No. 10 Waiakea the night before. On the other hand, this was the Governors’ first game back since winning the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red Division Championship last Thursday. Winning the OIA Red gave Farrington the league’s seeded berth and first round bye in the 12-team state tournament.

That long period of waiting time clearly affected the Governors, who trailed 29-23 at halftime. McEnroe was the only Farrington player to score in double figures in the first half (11), while the next highest was only two.

“I think we were too nervous in the first half, everybody was trying to play (Mililani’s) game,” McEnroe said on their first half woes. “I think we should have played more of our game because we was too excited out there.”

“We didn’t execute our offense or our defense well enough so we went into the locker room with a six-point deficit. Mililani played well,” added Farrington coach Allan Silva. 

Farrington got back to their norm after the break, going on a 9-0 run to start the second half. Isaiah Visoria’s euro step gave Farrington the lead at the 6:46 mark of the third quarter. Visoria was the catalyst in the Governors’ second half surge, picking up a bounty of steals to set up fast break opportunities. 

“He started running our break, he did a really good job,” Silva said on Visoria.

The Governors took a 38-37 lead heading into the fourth quarter, setting up a exciting fourth quarter.

Mililani’s Noel Bueno went to work to start the fourth, picking up two steals that lead to four quick points. Visoria responded with a reverse layup and a fast break pass to Marc Dudalao to retake the lead.

The Trojans were able to tie the game up on an Elijah Butler free throw, but they could never regain the lead the rest of the way. Mililani had a chance in the final seconds to tie or win the game, but was unable to get off a successful shot attempt. McEnroe never budge on his defense, forcing a circus fadeaway 3-pointer from Butler that was nowhere near the basket.

“I was playing like it was my last, I didn’t want to give up.” McEnroe said on his mentality in the closing seconds. “I tried to give Elijah Butler the hardest shot ever. Thank God that was the hardest shot I’ve seen.”

McEnroe led the Governors with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Visoria chipped in with 12 points, 10 coming in the second half.

Noel Bueno led the Trojans with 17 points and a game-high seven steals. Butler added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Farrington advances to face Maryknoll in the semifinals, 7:00 p.m. at the Neal Blaisdell Center. The Spartans defeated Baldwin, 66-61, in the other quarterfinal game.

“We’re lucky we got a dodge,” Silva said after the game. “We’re lucky we got out because Mililani is an excellent team.”