The ILH boys basketball title fittingly came down to the final possession.

Maryknoll senior Jordyn Perez converted a 3-point play with 11.1 seconds remaining and the Spartans recovered from blowing a 10-point lead with 3:02 left to hold off Punahou 57-52 on Wednesday night for their first league title since 2013.

Perez finished with 11 points and eight rebounds and Jaylen Cain led four Spartans in double figures with 16 points and sealed the game with two free throws with less than a second remaining to set off a storming of the court from the home crowd.

“Every time I’m extremely worried about certain situations, my team rises to the occasion and they come out and perform way (better) than I expect,” Maryknoll coach Kelly Grant said. “They started out in that first half doing a really good job defending (Punahou). We did a really good job getting through screens and forcing them to take shots where they didn’t have their feet set.”

The No. 1-ranked Spartans (11-2) gave up 66 in a 15-point loss to the second-ranked Buffanblu (10-3) on Monday, setting the stage for Wednesday’s winner-take-all final.

After spending a lot of Tuesday’s practice working on fighting through screens and defending the 3-point line, Maryknoll held Punahou to just 16.7-percent shooting (4-for-24) in the first half to build a 23-11 lead.

Punahou opened the second half pressuring Maryknoll full court and forced 18 turnovers to get back into the game.

The Buffanblu tied the game for the first time on Zayne Chong’s two free throws with 39.3 seconds to go.

Maryknoll brought the ball downcourt and worked time off the clock before Perez dribbled left and found a lane to convert a layup while drawing contact. His free throw made it a 55-52 game.

“Jordyn made a great play. He got a little angle and he took it the hole,” Punahou coach Darren Matsuda said. “I thought we got good shots — shots we normally hit — and we couldn’t hit and it was frustrating.”

Hunter Hosoda’s 3-point play to start the second half got the Buffanblu going and Punahou scored seven points in less than a minute to pull within 32-31.

Isaiah Gelacio answered with a 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter and Maryknoll got two more buckets to start the fourth, including a two-handed jam at the rim by Marcus Tobin, who finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.

“I was planning on them double teaming Isaiah and then I spun to the basket and it was open,” Tobin said. “I tried to embrace the moment and saw the double team and went for it.”

Maryknoll stretched the lead back to 10 when Cole Arceneaux took over for Punahou, scoring nine points in less than three minutes.

Arceneaux’s 3 with 1:01 remaining cut the lead to two and he missed a free throw after making a shot while getting fouled to keep it a one-point game.

Maryknoll went 1-for-2 in four consecutive trips to the line and Chong made two free throws to tie it before Perez played the role of hero for the Spartans.

“That was on his own,” Grant said. “He’s been doing that for the last three years so I can live with that.”