Damien's Jake Holtz works against Mid-Pacific's Kala Nakaya. Holtz scored a string of 14 consecutive points for the Monarchs late in Friday night's win over the host Owls. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Fri, Jan 3, 2020 @ Mid-Pacific

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Damien

50

Mid-Pacific

47

F/OT	1	2	3	4	OT
Damien (8-7, 18-16)	12	10	10	8	10	50
Mid-Pacific (5-10, 17-15)	7	12	17	4	7	47

E. Kahue-Parker 18 pts  4/6 FTs

J. Holtz 19 pts  1 3pm  4/5 FTs

MANOA — Jake Holtz scored 14 of his game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter or later to lead No. 2 Damien to a 50-47 overtime win against No. 5 Mid-Pacific in the regular-season opener for both teams Friday night at Mills Gymnasium.

The Monarchs (9-7 overall, 1-0 league) also got 17 points from Hayden Bayudan to record their first Interscholastic League of Honolulu win in Division I since the 2011-12 season.

Elijah Kahue-Parker scored 18 points and Kamana Lapina 10 to lead the Owls (12-6, 0-1).

Damien moved up this year after they captured it D2 state crown in the 2018-19 season, which saw Holtz earn All-Hawaii Player of the Year honors.

The Monarchs played without senior forward Bryce Forbes, another First Team All-Hawaii performer from a year ago. Coach Alvin Stephenson declined to say why Forbes did not play.

With the 6-foot-7 Forbes out of the lineup, Holtz took matters into his own hands. He did it on both ends of the floor, forcing a handful of turnovers by the Owls in critical moments late in the game.

"That's Jake Holtz, I mean, that's just what he do and that's what he's blessed us with last year and this year, so for him, for me, that's nothing out of the ordinary that I saw tonight, that's just the Jake Holtz performance," Stephenson said.

Holtz scored all eight of Damien's fourth-quarter points and evened the scored at 40 with 27.8 seconds left in regulation after he made both ends of a one-and-one bonus at the free-throw line to send it into the extra period.

Mid-Pacific led 45-42 with 1:31 left in overtime following an Adonis Espania free throw. However, Holtz scored on consecutive possessions. His 14-foot jumper pulled the Monarchs within one. Holtz then got to the line with 26.4 left to play and converted both the tying and go-ahead free throws and gave his team the lead for good.

"I mean, the coaches always tell me when the game's on the line, you decline to the level of your training so I mean, I trained all offseason for this and you know, it's just getting started," said Holtz, a 6-foot-5 senior.

Holtz had five points after the first quarter, but was held scoreless in the second and third periods before he accounted for a string of 14 consecutive Damien points.

"For Jake, I mean, that's his normal. That's something that we expect from him every game. He's a big-time player, he's proven, he's a champion, so I mean, I'm never really worried about him showing up in big games," Stephenson said. "I know he'll be there down the stretch regardless of how he's playing in the beginning."

The Owls cut it to a 48-47 Damien lead on Kahue-Parker's putback with 2.5 seconds left. They fouled Bayudan with 1.7 on the clock, but the sophomore point guard made both free throws to give his team a 50-47 cushion. Mid-Pacific got the ensuing inbounds pass to Kahue-Parker near mid court, who had an open look at the basket, but his desperation heave bounced off the front iron as time expired.

"We played a really good game and Damien, man, is tough," Mid-Pacific first-year coach Robert Shklov said. "They followed coach Alvin's lead and they stayed really cool and Holtz, what can you say about him as a cool customer? I don't know how much he scored in the second half, it had to have been a good number, but he's tough and he hit tough ones, he hit tough ones."

Bayudan hit three of Damien's seven 3-pointers and was a perfect 6-for-6 shooting on free throws. The Monarchs shot 11 of 15 from the line.

Mid-Pacific was 6 of 11 from the stripe and made five triples, including two each by Lapina and Lucca Kitashima.

Damien led 22-19 at halftime.

The Owls will host their second defending state champion in as many days Saturday, when No. 1 Maryknoll visits Mills Gymnasium. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 6 p.m.

"I told the boys it's kind of a hidden positive, because it's only a day — the coaches have been saying, ‘wow, this schedule is crazy, there's back-to-backs' — but now we don't even have to wait to sort of get this taste out of our mouths," Shklov said. "The ILH schedule is gonna be a monster, I don't think anyone goes undefeated. We're going to be a beat-up league by states and it's going to be really fun to be box-score watching the whole year because I think anyone can beat anyone."

The Monarchs next play Tuesday night, when they host No. 4 Punahou at 6 p.m.