Senior Garrette Kanamu put up a shot against Aiea. Kanamu's tip-in won the game for the Chargers over Aiea in OT. CJ Caraang | SL

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Wed, Feb 4, 2015 @ Pearl City

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Aiea

30

Pearl City

32

F/OT	1	2	3	4	OT
Aiea (3-7, 6-13)	7	5	15	3	0	30
Pearl City (8-2, 11-8)	6	10	10	4	2	32

G. Kanamu 12 pts  2/3 FTs

C. Kessell 10 pts  1 3pm  1/2 FTs

PEARL CITY - Senior night festivities were put on hold for a while, but it was worth the wait for Pearl City.

Senior Garrette Kanamu's tip-in with one minute, 21 seconds in overtime lifted the Chargers over Aiea, 32-30, Wednesday night at the Chargers' gym.

"I just saw the ball and I wanted to go get it," said Kanamu, draped in an assortment of lei from well-wishers."

The Chargers' sixth consecutive win improved them to 7-2 as they clinched the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I Western Division's third seed for the 12-team tournament. Na Alii fell to 3-5, but they had already clinched West's Division II top seed.

Pearl City controlled the OT tip-off and stalled for the first 90 seconds. After about a minute of maneuvering for a shot, the Chargers took one and missed, but Kanamu was under the basket for the tip-in. He finished with a game-high 12 points. All four of his rebounds were on the offensive side. Two were converted into baskets.

"We couldn't get a ball under the bucket to save our life," Aiea coach Justin Miura said. "But that's part of the game."

With just under a minute left, Aiea's Kysen Helepololei got a steal. The ball eventually ended up with Christian Kessell, whose dribble drive from the left baseline missed. As the players converged on the ball, Peerl City's Kasey Villalon was fouled and sent to the free-throw line for a one-and-one with 11 seconds left. He missed the first shot that was rebounded by Aiea's Michael Jones-Quering. After bringing the ball down court, Aiea called time with three seconds left. When play resumed, Shaun Aque inbounded the ball to Joshua Hill, whose 3-pointer from the top of the key hit off the rim when the buzzer sounded.

"We were just looking for an open flash, possibly to Christian Kessell or maybe Kysen Heleopololei in the corner," Miura said. "Last option was Joshua at the top; he's going to be able to create, so we were OK with that last shot."

Pearl City coach Lionel Villarmia was willing to concede the 2, but not the 3-pointer at that juncture.

"We were so concerned about the 3-point shot," Villarmia said. "The 2-point isn't going to hurt us; the 3 is going to beat us. (If they make ) the 2, we'll play four more minutes."

It was a slow-down from the start. Each team was deliberate on offense with Aiea taking a 7-6 lead after the first quarter.

"They're so big," Miura said. "There's no way we could win man (to-man) and handle them on the inside, so we had to stick with that zone and live and die with them being able to shoot that."

Pearl City opened the second with an 8-0 run  before Aiea got on the board again with 1:46 left in the half on a basket by Helepololei, who later knocked down a 3-pointer to pull Aiea to 14-12. But Pierce McMoore scored before the half ended to increase the Chargers' lead to 16-12.

Leads changed three times in the third period with Aiea taking a 27-20 lead at 1:53 when Helepololei converted a three-point play. Pearl City got a 3-pointer from Gilbert Tapat and a three-point play by Kanamu with 41 seconds left in the third to pull the Chargers to 27-26.

The fourth period was a drag. The teams were tied at 27 and 29 before Aiea regained the lead when Kessell made one of his two free throws. The missed shot was rebounded by Villalon. Pearl City eventually called time with 10 seconds. Tylor Canon inbounded the ball to McMoore, who was fouled on his dribble drive to the net with five seconds left in regulation.

McMoore missed the first shot. After an apparent early whistle and discussion, McMoore, who made his second shot, had to do it over again. He made his second shot to tie the game at 30.

After Aiea inbounded the ball, it called time with three seconds left near the middle of the court. Aque inbounded the ball to Helepololei, whose 10-footer went off the rim as time expired, forcing OT.

"We knew we had to step up on defense," Kanamu said."

Kessell and Helepololei led Aiea with 10 points each. Jones-Quering, a 6-foot senior, had eight rebounds for Na Alii.

"I don't think he's played organized basketball in the state of Hawaii yet," Miura said of Jones-Quering. "He's a track guy, a triple-jump guy. He's raw. His basketball IQ in a work in progress, but he's coming around. He's making progress. As you can see, he gets to the basket pretty easy."

The 6-3 Kanamu made his presence felt all game. Villarmia said he has been a good leader for the team.

"After the preseason, we promoted him to captain," Villarmia said. "Not only during the game, in practice, he started talking to the kids."