All Steve Hathaway wanted was a stop.
The longtime Roosevelt coach got two. Reserve guard Jason Hur swatted a layup try in the final minute, and sophomore Drake Watanabe rejected another at the buzzer as Roosevelt edged McKinley 43-41 to capture the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II boys basketball title on Wednesday.
Senior Kaulana Koki added 10 points and five boards for another otherwise young Roosevelt squad. This was Roosevelt’s first league title since 2016.
“Hopefully, we play McKinley one more time,” Hathaway said, referring to the upcoming state tourney. “We had some bad plays, turnovers, some bad shots, but I always tell the guys, if you get the win, I can live with it. I expect us to fix those mistakes.”
>> Photo Gallery: Boys basketball: Roosevelt vs. McKinley
Roosevelt (11-7) got clutch defense to make up for some shaky free-throw shooting down the stretch. It also compensated for a huge night by McKinley’s Noah Omori. He splashed seven 3-pointers and finished with 24 points despite leg cramps.
“It seemed like he made everything,” Hathaway said of Omori. “We had to switch. Logan (Quinlan) was on him the last few minutes. I told him you’ve got to stay on him.”
It worked. Quinlan held the hot-shooting guard to 2-for-4 from the field in the final few minutes.
Watanabe was on fire in the second quarter with 10 of his team-high 14 points. That came after Roosevelt fell behind 9-2 late in the first quarter. McKinley deployed Omori to cover Watanabe in a box-and-one defense. By the second quarter, the Tigers went to a man-to-man defense, opening the lanes for the explosive Watanabe.
“Some of our players started to show up. They started to get aggressive,” Watanabe said.
Roosevelt opened the lead to 26-19 after sophomore Kody Seguancia scored off a steal, then hit another bucket in traffic with 5:04 left in the third stanza.
McKinley ran a series of staggered screens for Omori, who sank four consecutive treys to give the home team a 31-30 lead with 1:15 to go in the third.
The game stayed tight until the 6-foot-4 Koki hustled for a layup, giving Roosevelt a 37-36 lead with 3 minutes left.
Seguancia then swished a corner 3 and the Rough Riders had a four-point lead.
McKinley battled back with a corner 3 by Omori, and after he hit a runner in the lane, the Tigers trailed 42-41 with 43 seconds remaining.
Roosevelt then missed five of their last six foul shots, including the front end of two 1-and-1s.
Down 42-41 with 30.7 seconds to go, Tigers point guard Elmo Serna then missed the front of a 1-and-1.
Down two points with 15 seconds left, the Tigers rebounded a missed foul shot by Watanabe, but Quincy Owens-Barnes’ layup try was swatted by Hur in the paint.
The Tigers were still down 43-41 when Omori missed an elbow jumper. Kaena Leopoldo hustled for the putback, but Watanabe rejected it at the final buzzer.
“I knew he had to shoot it,” Watanabe said.
Frank Camacho added 10 points for McKinley (14-12).
The Snapple/HHSAA Boys Basketball State Championships will tip off on Wednesday in Division II.
