Ching Gymnasium is the place to be for down-to-the-last-second basketball.

For the second night in a row Thursday, a Maryknoll basketball team had its fans on their feet, thumping away in the bleachers and watching hard-paced action all the way to the buzzer.

This time, it was the fifth-ranked Spartans girls team stealing a 47-46 victory from No. 3 Punahou with a go-ahead bucket with 9.5 seconds remaining. That stunning play –Maegen Martin’s post-up hoop on an overhead pass from Lexi Delovio — was followed by a steal at the other end of the court by freshman Ysabelle Halemano to seal it.

"We wanted the ball in Lexi’s hands and she could penetrate or look for the pass. All we wanted was a (clean) attempt," said smiling Maryknoll coach Chico Furtado, whose team improved to 5-0 in the ILH while dropping the Buffanblu to 4-1. "She drove just enough to draw help from Punahou’s defenders and Maegan rolled to get open. She made it, but I wish she made it with one second instead of 10 seconds. And then we defended."

The exhilarating finish came one night after Saint Louis held off a furious Maryknoll comeback to win 44-42 in boys basketball.

When Punahou’s Tyra Moe hit a free throw with 21 seconds left, it appeared the Buffanblu might hold on to the lead they held since late in the first quarter.

But things fell into place for Maryknoll on its final possession and it put the finishing touches on a game that had both teams going all-out, up and down the court in the fourth quarter.

"I was open on the block and I was hoping Lexi saw me and she did," said Martin, who finished with 11 points. "The shot was a little short, but it went in."

Delovio’s hustle and the strong inside defense by Martin, Isabella Cravens and Lindsey Lee spurred the comeback by Marykoll, which trailed by as many as 16, 33-17, in the third quarter.

After cutting it to 38-32 with a 15-5 run, the Spartans started to get serious in the fourth quarter, when they outscored the Buffanblu 20-9. Delovio’s steal and dish to Lee followed by a Delovio baseline swish made it 38-36 with 3:26 left.

Punahou’s Tyra Moe, who had a game-high 16 points, stopped the bleeding with an inside hoop and added a three-point play for a 45-38 edge with less than two minutes remaining.

But the Spartans just kept on coming. Lee’s 3-pointer, Kaile Cambra’s drive and two Delovio free throws tied it 45-all with 33 seconds left, setting up the fantastic finish.

"It might have been that we relaxed a little bit," Punahou coach Kevin Velasco said. "Vae (Malufau, who had nine points) didn’t have her best game offensively, but somebody else has to step up. I don’t want to make excuses and it’s not an excuse that we didn’t have our point guard (Kamaile Kandiah). We still have to come out and play. There are a lot of things we have to learn and get better at, like staying composed and staying in our game. I’m proud that our girls still played well."

Delovio finished with a team-high 13 points. The junior used to play point and was moved to the 2 guard.

"It was so I could attack and get dishes," she said. "We stayed together. On that (winning play), I thought it was better to be unselfish. It was wide open. That was a better attempt than if I shot. I don’t care if I score the winning basket or make the winning pass as long as we play together and play unselfishly."

PUNAHOU–Lexie Taylor 5, Heaven Wong 1, Abby Aplaca 5, Vae Malufau 9, Elle Uyeda 7, Tyra Moe 16, Kaleialoha Puaa 0, Sunny Rosario 3.

MARYKNOLL–Lexi Delovio 13, Rhianne Omori 5, Georjette Stietzel 0, Isabella Cravens 0, Chayse Milne 0, Kaile Cambra 4, Maegen Martin 11, Lindsey Lee 8, Kehau Gilliland 0, Ysabelle Halemano 6, Notoa Moe 0.

3-point goals–Punahou 4 (Taylor, Malufau, Uyeda, Rosario). Maryknoll 3 (Lee 2, Halemano).

‘Iolani 61, Mid-Pacific 28

The Raiders received 11, 10 and 9 points from Camy Aguinaldo, Brooke Maeda and Skylar Nakata as the trio combined to outscore the Owls. 

‘Iolani’s Sunshine Saucedo also netted 9 points as the visitors held Mid-Pacific to 12 second-half points including one in the final frame.

‘Iolani outshot Mid-Pacific 5-0 from beyond the arc with two each from Nakata and Maeda.

‘IOLANI–Kristen Ahn 0, Sheyla Kahalehoe 4, Kellie Okamura 0, Emily Nomura 6, Brooke Maeda 10, Sierra Buscher 2, Kelsi Ikeda 2, Lindsey Combs 0, Camy Aguinaldo 11, Jessica Otsu 6, Aubrie Usui 0, Sunshine Saucedo 9, Anis Augafa 2, Skylar Nakata 9.

MID-PACIFIC–Harley Simon 6, Lia Nakamoto 6, Emma Krening 5, Elmanie Thomas 4, Ciera Kameehonua 5, Judy Phan 2. 

3-point goals– ‘Iolani 5 (Nakata 2, Maeda 2, Aguinaldo). Mid-Pacific-none.

ILH DIVISION II GIRLS

La Pietra 46, St. Andrew’s 30

Tia Thompson recorded a game-high 20 points to lead the Panthers over the Pride. Nikki Nguyen added 11 points in La Pietra’s first conference win. 

ST. ANDREW’S–Mie Oishi 2, Olivia Sou 10, Jordan Jones 6, Jessica Serikawa 4, Emily Ahlgren 0, Zijun Sun 0, Hattie Hapai 0, Connie Rico-Avello 0, Rose Yin 0, Isabella-Marie Geppert 5, Rachel Ho 0, Qian Qian Lin 0, Emilie Anderson 3.

LA PIETRA–Sachi Enseki-Tom 0, Brittany Lieu 0, Kristiana Petrie 0, Heather Gallacher 0, Gabrielle Mark 7, Jaresha Gladney 0, Nikki Nguyen 11, Jasmine Schuman 2, Tia Thompson 20, Pumehana Uslan 2, Samaya Gorham 4.

3-point goals–St. Andrew’s 2 (Sou 2). La Pietra 3 (Thompson 2, Mark).

University 65, Damien 53

Kyra Young scored 22 points and Markayisha Masani added 17 to lead the Junior Bows past the Monarchs.

UNIVERSITY–Breanna Dela Rosa 11, Markayisha Masani 17, Kyra Young 22, Karley Ann Yoshioka 9, Jocelyn Ki 4, Tioledoauli Posiulai 2.

DAMIEN–Kamaile Lebanon 4, Kelsey Perreria 7, Kaylie Cruz 4, Karly Navas 6, Catherine Votovich 10, Melina Souza 22.

3-point goals– University 4 (Masani 2, Young, Dela Rosa). Damien 4 (Souza 2, Navas 2).

Also

Hanalani 43, Le Jardin 34

DIVISION I-AA GIRLS

Kamehameha II 47, Punahou II 43

Leading scorers–KS: