Punahou's Dillon Kellner (3) and Ayndra Uperesa-Thomas (4) scored a combined 25 points against the Crusaders at Saint Louis' Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Center. CJ Caraang | SL

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Sat, Jan 28, 2023 @ Saint Louis

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Punahou

51

Saint Louis

44

Final	1	2	3	4
Punahou (7-6, 21-9)	9	12	10	20	51
Saint Louis (9-4, 27-7)	11	9	18	6	44

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

P. Sepulona 24 pts  2 3pm  4/10 FTs

D. Kellner 13 pts  2 3pm  3/5 FTs

P. Sepulona 8 tot  5 off  3 def

A. Uperesa-Thomas 7 tot  1 off  6 def

S. Revuelto 4 ast

T. Lam 4 ast

The season was hanging in the balance, but Punahou survived to see another game.

The fifth-ranked Buffanblu took control late in the fourth quarter and pulled away from No. 3 Saint Louis, 51-44, in the ILH single-elimination tournament semifinals at the Clarence T. C. Ching Athletic Center.

Punahou (7-5) reached the tournament final and will face Wilder Avenue rival Maryknoll (9-4) on Monday. Winner advances to face Saint Louis (8-4) on Wednesday for the overall league title and seeded berth.

Dillon Kellner led the Buffanblu with 13 points and four rebounds.

Ayndra Uperesa-Thomas had 12 points, seven boards, and three blocks to lead the Buffanblu. He had the tough assignment to slow down Pupu Sepulona, who finished with 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting and eight boards.

"I think he did a great job. Last time Pupu had his career high. We made some adjustments. We challenged Ayndra. Pupu is tough to stop. We made adjustments to challenge him to bring his best effort and he did tonight," Punahou coach Darren Matsuda said.

Punahou trimmed a nine-point deficit to start the quarter all the way down to one after James Taras hit a 3-pointer in the right corner with over 3:32 to go.

Uperesa-Thomas gave Punahou the lead momentarily, but Sepulona answered in transition. Taras converted Noah Macaulay's assist for a 45-44 lead with 2:08 left in the period.

"It's nice to see that. This team, in a lot of ways, we're really young. We've been waiting for those moments to happen and it's happening at the right time," Matsuda said.

"That was a great momentum boost. We needed that shot. That was big," Kellner added.

Punahou played keep away to drain time off the clock and Macapulay was fouled with 31.4 seconds. He connected on both one-and-one free throws to give the Buffanblu a three-point lead.

Sepulona was fouled on a drive with 21.2 seconds left and failed to connect on both free throws. He finished 4-for-10 from the line for the game.

Uperesa-Thomas was fouled and made his free throws to make it, 49-44.

"Walking up to the free throw line. I believe in myself as a free throw shooter. No pressure. I take one deep breath and focus on the free throw to get the results I want," Uperesa-Thomas said.

On the other end, Uperesa-Thomas blocked Shancin Revuelto's layup and Kellner secured the rebound. His free throws put the game out-of-reach with 12.7 left on the clock.

"Season was on the line. Win or go home. No one wanted to go home like we did last year. It made us kept fighting harder," Kellner said.

Sepulona posted a career-high 29 points the loss on Jan. 19 against the Buffanblu.

"You can't play him soft, so if I try to play physical, then I'm picking up fouls, but I have to play through it. Keep playing hard and I can't control what the refs do so I can control how hard I play and how hard I make it for him," Uperesa-Thomas said of guarding Sepulona while battling foul trouble.

Reveulto's baseline jumper gave Saint Louis a 11-9 lead going into the second quarter.

Stone Kanoa was fouled on a fast break layup and converted the 3-point play. Jon Yoshimoto and Kody Jones came off the bench to combine for four points to bring Punahou within one.

Kellner's steal and layup gave the Buffanblu their first lead since the opening minute. Jordan Nunuha tied the game at 19 by splitting the double bonus free throws, but Dash Watanabe found a cutting Jones for a 21-20 lead at halftime.

Punahou was whistled for 13 of their 21 fouls in the first half.

"We told the kids to focus on what you can control. Don't worry about anything else. We told them it's us against the world tonight. It was a hostile environment and we didn't get the calls we thought we should get. The game goes sometime in your way or not in your favor, but you have to keep playing," Matsuda said.

"It feels being the underdogs coming into the game. Coaches were telling us to keep our minds in the game and staying the course and not worry about the fouls being called," Kellner said.

Kellner opened the third with a triple from the left corner, but Sepulona hit a bank 3-pointer and reclaimed the lead with a pair of free throws. Uperesa-Thomas and Sepulona traded 3s and Jordan Posiulai scored from the right block to force a Punahou timeout and trailed, 30-27.

Kekai Burnett brought the Buffanblu within one with 4:09 to go, but Sepulona scored the next six points to go up, 36-29. Kellner added a basket but Keanu Meacham made a reverse layup for a 38-31 lead going into the fourth.

"This is the last eight minutes. If we're going to go down, we're going down fighting and do it together. Most of this team has been together for a long time. We had some ups and downs this season but we have to keep winning and we have one more shot at the apple," Matsuda said of the message going into the fourth.

Sepulona pivoted for an interior bucket to make it, 40-31 early in the period. Kellner scored the next four points off a 3-pointer and was 1-for-3 from the free throw line.

Uperesa-Thomas hit a jumper to pull Punahou within four. Jiovanni Ramos missed the front end of the one-and-one that allowed Taras to hit the 3-pointer on the other end that sparked Punahou's comeback.

"We knew we had one quarter for our season. We had to buy all in right then and there or we're going home and we didn't want to go home. We did our jobs in the fourth quarter and finished," Uperesa-Thomas said.

Punahou shot 19 of 40 (47.5 percent) from the field and was 10-for-13 (76.9 percent) for free throws.

Saint Louis shot 17 of 33 (51.5 percent)but was 8-for-17 (47.1 percent) from the foul line.

The Buffanblu lead the season series 2-1 and their loss came on Jan. 5 but picked up wins nine days ago and tonight.