Tyler Morgan knows how to make a difference.
Morgan propelled the Mililani boys basketball team past McKinley 46-43 in the first round of the Na Menehune Holiday Classic at Moanalua on Monday.
The senior guard was scoreless when his Trojans fell 59-42 to the Tigers at home on Dec. 17. With his team battling but unable to hold a lead on Monday, his coaches finally looked his way.
"We inserted Tyler for his offense," Mililani coach Edward Gonzalez said. "We were having a lot of turnovers and needed another outside threat. He proved that he is a 3-point shooter."
Morgan and the Trojans left the locker room at halftime with a six-point lead and feeling good about things. Then the Tigers erased the whole thing in 3 minutes and it was Tyler’s time.
Morgan made his presence felt the first time with 50 seconds left in the third quarter. After Jerry Wu scored on a fast-break basket to give the Tigers a 31-29 lead, Morgan squared up and hit his first 3-pointer of the game. Mililani held the lead, getting a big stop at the end of the quarter when McKinley had 35 seconds to break through but couldn’t penetrate Mililani’s suddenly stiff defense.
"That was key," Gonzalez said. "We went with the guys who were playing on the court. They were the ones playing defense."
The Trojans hit the court to start the fourth quarter as well as they have all season. Taylor Tuia scored on a cut through the lane, DeShawn Duncan-Benson converted a fast break and Alex Bumgarner, who led all scorers with 15 points, hit a 3-pointer to run Mililani’s lead to eight just 11⁄2 minutes into the final quarter. The Tigers fought back to cut the margin to five, but Morgan hit his second bomb of the morning to move it back to eight points with 5:18 left.
Still, the Tigers would just not stay down, closing to 46-43, with 16.1 seconds left after Duncan-Benson missed a free throw and Peter Bueno missed two of them. One make would have put McKinley away.
"We are still a work in progress," Gonzalez said. "We have to make a free throw."
McKinley’s A.J. Ortaleza went for a jumper from just outside the lane with 2 seconds left, and Mililani corralled the rebound but threw it away, leaving a second left on the clock for McKinley to attempt a 3-pointer.
Jace Bolosan, who had stabbed Mililani with 3-pointers twice in the second half, got a good look off the inbounds play and let fly. His shot bounced off the side of the rim as the buzzer sounded.
Only six players scored for Mililani, with Tuia following Bumgarner with 10 points and Mene Perese matching Morgan with six points. Justly Laquihon led McKinley with nine points.
The Trojans (2-3) move on to face No. 3 Maryknoll today at 3 p.m. in the second round. McKinley (5-2) takes on Punahou II at 9 a.m. in the consolation bracket.
Na menehune holiday classic
Maryknoll 46, Punahou II 22
Waiakea 57, Roosevelt 42
Moanalua 75, Island Pacific 38
Academy of the Pacific 63, Castle 27
University 53, ‘Iolani II 44
‘Iolani 53, Kalani 43
St. Joseph’s 48, Kaiser 30
ALSO
Kaimuki 47, Radford 34
