University defeats Seabury Hall for first D-II title

Thirty-eight years is more than a lifetime for these Jr. ‘Bows.

That’s how long their state-title drought lasted, and it ended on Saturday night. Anson Canencia scored 10 points and Micah Agcaoili added nine as unseeded University High overwhelmed MIL champion Seabury Hall 46-31 to capture the Division II title at the OC 16/HHSAA Boys Basketball State Championships at the Stan Sheriff Center.

It was a grind that University (24-6 overall) was prepared for after finishing second in the ILH to eventual top seed St. Francis.

“All nine of our guys contributed,” longtime coach Walt Quitan said, recalling the road since his team lost to St. Francis a second time in league play.

“We wouldn’t let that define our season. Seabury Hall showed what they can do when they beat (St. Francis). They’re going to hang around and our guys knew that,” he said. “I’m so relieved. Our guys have lost so many close games over the years. They bought in and that started last summer.”

Ryan Hobus added eight points and five rebounds, and Lachlan Macleod solidified a tall, active defensive unit with four rebounds and many hustle plays.

Cameron Hanisch led Seabury Hall with 12 points, while Isaiah Payne added nine points, five boards and two assists.

Seabury Hall (15-3 overall), which played an all-Division II schedule in the MIL, was one of the most disciplined teams in the tourney despite having a roster with no seniors.

“We exceeded our expectations, but we can’t help being disappointed,” coach Scotty Prather said. “I’m proud of them for fighting to the end. We had some turnovers against that press and on a different day, those (missed) shots might go down.”

Seabury Hall had 17 giveaways. Five came on steals by high-motored Charlie Fox, who also hustled for five boards.

After an even battle in the opening minutes, Agcaoili’s left-handed rainbow 3-pointer gave University an 8-5 lead and the Jr. ‘Bows never trailed again.

UHS used a three-quarter press to slow the Spartans, and the MIL champions went cold in the second quarter, shooting 3-for-10 from the field with five turnovers. University opened a 21-12 lead after Canencia spun in the lane and hit a 10-foot jumper late in the first half.

The Spartans, who persevered and upset No. 1 seed St. Francis — the ILH champion — earlier in the tourney, couldn’t get shots to drop in the second half. They got within 22-17 on two free throws by Hanisch early in the third quarter, but UHS kept attacking and built the lead back up to 31-22 after foul shots by Kapena Fitzgerald and Canencia late in the third.

Seabury Hall got no closer than seven the rest of the way as the Jr. ‘Bows spread the floor and Canencia did his best impression of his dad, former all-state guard Randy Canencia, slicing and dicing through the Spartans’ halfcourt pressure.

And just like that, University won its first state title since 1978, when Claude Hottendorf was head coach.

“It’s very special. We played a lot of good teams, even beating D-I teams,” Anson Canencia said.

The team had some bumps along the way, including a second loss to St. Francis during the regular season.

“We knew it would be a grind after losing that second time,” said Hobus, who also had a block. “We put in the work and every game after that was do or die. But we have experience and we’re a little older now. We share the ball and it affects the whole team. It’s been a long time. More than 30 years!”

University 46, Seabury Hall 31

Key — fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; r: rebounds; pf: personal fouls; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers; min: minutes played.

Halftime — University 21, Seabury Hall 15

3-point goals — University 3-10 (Agcaoili 2-5, Taylor 1-1, Kalekini 0-1, Macleod 0-3). Seabury Hall 4-16 (Payne 2-4, Hanisch 2-8, Jenkins 0-2, Dobson 0-2).

Steals — University 12 (Fox 5, Taylor 3, A. Canencia 2, Fitzgerald, Agcaoli). Seabury Hall 4 (Hanisch 2, Naiditch, Jenkins).

Blocked shots — University 1 (Hobus). Seabury Hall 4 (Hanisch 2, Naiditch, Jenkins) Turnovers — University 8 (Kaleikini 3, Fox 2, Hobus, A. Canencia, Macleod). Seabury Hall 17 (Payne 6, Jenkins 4, Dobson 2, Da Silva 2, Hanisch 2, Naiditch). Technical fouls — none. Officials — Robert L Trujillo Jr, Robert Ajifu, Anthony “Tony” Coda A —

Third place St. Francis 58, Honokaa 52

HONOKAA—Jerome Quines 2, Gene Ansagay 3, Kelvin Falk 6, Kainalu Lau 0, Koa Callihan 4, Austyn Ah Choy 3, Kea Callihan 2, Bong Pancho 0, Cyrus Keju 0, Jonathan Charbonneau 19, Micah Lorenzo 6, Kysen Datuin 5, Sheltyn Carvalho 0, Werner Herry 0, Kamuela Spencer-Herring 2.

ST. FRANCIS—Kameron Ng 8, Noah Kurosawa 3, Boris Vukovic 6, Isaac Crichton 4, Jordan Woo 0, JJ Paaluhi-Caulk 14, Bryce Nishida 9, Wembley Mailei 0, Micah Kalei 5, Bubba Akana 0, Lualala Fietonu 0, Viliami Pua 0, Supilani Mailei 9. 3-point goals—Honokaa 6 (Falk 2, Ah Choy, Ansagay, Charbonneau, Lorenzo). St. Francis 8 (Paaluhi-Caulk 3, Nishida 2, Kalei, Kurosawa, Ng). Consolation Kalani 47, Roosevelt 31

ROOSEVELT—Jared Elwin 8, Adam Chiya 0, Juan Alverez 4, Micah Visoria 0, Charvis Paia 0, Jason Talbo 3, Tali Hayme 6, Michael Hyun 0, Shastyn Kekahuna 4, Christopher Lee 0, Nayton Koki 2, Triton Ramos 4, Lio Ilalio 0.

KALANI—Kalei Packer 0, Jaime Harris 3, Chase Santos 5, Kobe Ikari 8, Miles Hannon 4, Akea Tolentino 3, Max Pepe 3, Micah Kawano 0, Toby Mitchell 4, Evan Weng 0, Kapaa Nishimura 0, John Lam 6, Trey Sumida 6, Ryan Jacobi 4, Jeffrey Wood 1. 3-point goals—Roosevelt 2 (Ramos, Talbo). Kalani 4 (Ikari, Pepe, Santos, Tolentino).