St. Francis’ Kameron Ng caps brilliant prep career

1/1

Swipe or click to see more

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM

ILH’s Kameron Ng, of Saint Francis, shoots a three point basket over OIA’s Darius Lature, of Kekaulike, during the 2019 Geremy Robinson Senior Classic boys all-star basketball game on Saturday.

Select an option below to continue reading this premium story.

Already a Honolulu Star-Advertiser subscriber? Log in now to continue reading.

Get unlimited access

From as low as $12.95 /mo.

Subscribe Now

For Kameron Ng, it was about the finish.

The St. Francis senior capped a superlative career by hitting the go-ahead 3 — from NBA range, as usual — to lift the ILH squad over the OIA 88-87 in a boys hoops thriller at the Geremy Robinson Senior Classic on Saturday night at Moanalua gym.

Ng finished with 16 points, including a key 3-pointer to give the ILH a 79-76 lead with six minutes left. That helped slow down an OIA run that eliminated a 10-point deficit.

Everett Torres-Kahapea (Kailua) drove for a layup to tie the game at 85 with 1:03 left. Ng then splashed a 25-footer to give the ILH the lead for good. Torres-Kahapea scooped in a tough shot from 8 feet out, off the glass, reminiscent of George “Iceman” Gervin, and the OIA had one last chance after a missed free throw by Kaulana Makaula.

A lob pass from Torres-Kahapea to Darius Lature (King Kekaulike) gave him a shot to score near the left block, but his tough layup try missed and the ILH rebounded and ran out the clock.

“I think my guy got fouled on the last play,” Torres-Kahapea said.

It was a play drawn up by OIA/Kailua coach Walter Marciel.

“We never used this play (at Kailua),” he said. “We were supposed to pass it off the backboard.”

Torres-Kahapea finished with 22 points, Ja’Shon Carter (Kapolei) tallied 15, and Raefe McEnroe (Farrington) added 11 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Maryknoll’s Marcus Tobin led the ILH with 21 points and five boards. Duke Clemens (Punahou) tallied 15 points and five boards.

Maryknoll/ILH coach Kelly Grant wanted the win. Badly.

“I have fun when we win,” he said. “Not like last year.”

Ng came through in the clutch, representing St. Francis, a school that will close its doors in a few months. His season-long ankle injury was almost, sort of, nonexistent. Finally.

“It’s about 80 percent,” he said. “I don’t think we played defense for a while. They scored three straight layups. I’m surprised I got (the MVP award). I made that last shot and maybe that helped me out.”