Kalaheo’s back on top

In the end, it might have been the most thrilling boys basketball title game in island history.

The Kalaheo Mustangs took every shot the Maryknoll Spartans could give, blew a 19-point lead, then relied on the clutch shooting of Josh Ko to pull out a remarkable 60-54 overtime win on Saturday night in the Division I final of the Hawaiian Airlines/ HHSAA Boys Basketball State Championships.

A crowd of 3,808 often sounded like a full house at Blaisdell Arena as the Mustangs earned their first D-I title since 2001.

Ko poured in 26 points, including six in the extra period, as the second-seeded Mustangs finally took command against the resilient Spartans. Kalaheo went 39-4 this season, becoming the first team to win D-II and D-I titles in consecutive years.

"This one’s for my father. Every day he gives me the strength," Kalaheo coach Alika Smith said, referring to the late Pete Smith, the program’s legendary coach who guided that ’01 squad to the state championship.

"It’s great. It could’ve gone to four overtimes, but it’s well worth it," Smith said. "The kids stuck with the game plan. Even though we raced out to that 22-3 lead, we refocused. You never blow out a team like that. That’s a great team over there. It just shows the resilience of these kids."

Kalaheo, the OIA Red champion, had spent most of the season at No. 2 in the Top 10 while Maryknoll and Punahou shuffled between the No. 1 and 3 spots.

"There were doubters out there, people who said we didn’t belong in Division I after last year," said Ko, referring to Kalaheo’s D-II state title last year.

The game is already in instant classic territory, a true, deadlocked battle between two evenly matched, though thoroughly different types of teams.

"We believed in each other. Coach Alika said he would never trade us for anyone else and now I know why," said Ko, who fouled out after staking the Mustangs to a 55-51 lead with two tough drives to the bucket in overtime.

Maryknoll coach Kelly Grant led his team to a 25-3 season, nearly bringing the school its first state title since 1984, when he was a senior Spartan.

"The kids are disappointed. They felt they could’ve won this game. A couple of calls didn’t go our way, but give Kalaheo credit," he said. "They did a really good job controlling the tempo of the game. Josh Ko took over and scored a couple of baskets that were crucial. Whenever they needed a big basket, they hit ’em, gotta give credit to those guys.

Kalaheo got yeoman defensive efforts from Kalei Zuttermeister and Kupaa Harrison, who are normally known more for their 3-point shooting skills. Zuttermeister, at 6-foot-3 and 170 pounds, battled Maryknoll’s Goliath-like center, 6-9 Tobias Schramm from start to finish. Harrison, a rail-thin 6-3 sophomore, pushed as hard as he could under the rim against 6-5 Hyrum Harris.

"I just listened to Coach Alika and boxed out as much as I could," said Harrison, who scored six of his eight points in the second half.

Maryknoll was spectacular in its comeback from a 19-point deficit, using its size and hustle on the boards to rally.

"I just told them to be patient," Grant said. "When we were at Kaimuki, that happened to us (in the 2007 state title game), we went down really early against Punahou. They believed in it and they took their time. We had to keep our game plan and throw the ball to the post."

The Spartans outrebounded Kalaheo 24-15, grabbing eight offensive caroms. Schramm, originally from Germany, had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Harris finished with eight points and seven boards. Kaleb Gilmore led the Spartans with 15 points.

Maryknoll rallied to take the lead, 40-39, on a drive by Gilmore with 5:29 to go in the fourth quarter. They held that lead and were up 51-48 after Schramm made one of two free throws with 48 seconds to go in regulation.

Ko then swished an open 3 from the right wing as Maryknoll defenders gambled on steals in the passing lane.

Maryknoll nearly gave the game away in the final seconds when Danny Danbara missed a mid-range shot and Schramm fouled Shem Sukumaran. But the Kalaheo senior missed both free throws with 2.1 seconds left, and the game went into extra time.