Aiva Arquette pumped in a career-high 30 points as No. 1 Saint Louis withstood a fierce Maryknoll rally for a 51-44 win on Saturday night at Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Center.
“We just got a ‘W’ — that’s all I care about. That was a hell of a win for us as a team,” Arquette said.
Hayden Bayudan added 10 points, including 4-for-4 shooting at the free-throw line in the final 1:10, and four assists as the Crusaders improved to 4-1 in ILH play (10-1 overall). Saint Louis bounced back from a loss at Punahou on Thursday. Saint Louis, which won all 13 exhibition games during the 2020-21 season, has not lost a home game since 2019.
Saint Louis gave No. 3-ranked Maryknoll its first league loss after four wins, leaving the two teams in a tie for first place. ‘Iolani knocked off Kamehameha 59-52 on Saturday. ‘Iolani (2-2), Kamehameha (3-2) and Punahou (2-2) are on the heels of the front-runners.
Arquette, who signed with the University of Washington to play baseball, was virtually unstoppable on the post and perimeter. The 6-foot-4 senior shot 11-for-13 from the field and 6-for-9 at the free-throw line. Saint Louis put the game away, just barely, by shooting 9-for-12 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter.
“We knew they’re a good team, defending state champs. They’ve got all that winning pedigree behind them, so we knew that we’re going to have to weather the storm,” Saint Louis coach Dan Hale said. “That’s where we went to our guys, our leaders. We need them to step up and we’re fortunate they did.”
Parker Grant led Maryknoll (6-2 overall) with 11 points and Logan Dias added 10.
“We had difficulty getting into our sets. We were calling plays and the kids weren’t running the correct play, so that’s going to be on us, and we’ve got to make sure the kids are prepared,” Maryknoll coach Kelly Grant said. “We pressed and picked up the tempo. The difference was Arquette. We couldn’t stop him. We’ve got to figure something out the second time.”
Maryknoll had open looks from the arc in the first half against Saint Louis’ man-to-man defense, but missed all eight 3-point tries. Arquette was busy right away, scoring nine points as the home team opened an 18-8 lead.
After Bayudan scored off a steal, Saint Louis had its biggest margin, 23-10, early in the second quarter. The momentum continued with a 3, plus a steal and layup from Arquette. After Jordan Posiulai’s left-handed follow shot, the Crusaders led 30-16.
Maryknoll regrouped and cut the lead to 30-22 by halftime behind a steal and dish by Micah Sakamoto to Justin Yap. Sakamoto scored on a fast break pass from Dias during the 6-0 mini-run.
Saint Louis had seven turnovers in the third stanza as Maryknoll upped the intensity level with fullcourt pressure. The Crusaders stretched their lead to 39-27 after a long pass from Kache Kaio to Cole Schmidt, plus an old-fashioned three-point play by Arquette in the paint.
After going 0-for-9 from the arc in the first three quarters, Maryknoll found its rhythm with a faster tempo. Javen Kaneshiro, Grant, Hunter Marumoto and Dias hit 3-pointers as the Spartans rallied. Though Bayudan and Arquette kept knocking down free throws, Maryknoll got within 47-44 on a wing 3 by Dias with 34.7 seconds remaining.
Bayudan hit two foul shots with 27.1 seconds left, and after Sakamoto missed a 14-footer in the lane, Arquette missed two foul shots with 15.3 seconds to go.
Grant missed a 3 and Bayudan closed out the scoring with two free throws with 1.9 seconds left.
Saint Louis will host Damien on Tuesday and visit ‘Iolani on Thursday. Saint Louis defeated ‘Iolani last Tuesday, 47-39.
Maryknoll will travel to Kamehameha on Tuesday and host Damien on Thursday.
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OTHER SCORES
ILH
Division I Boys
Iolani 59, Kamehameha 52
Punahou 55, Mid-Pacific 48
Division I-AA/II Boys
Punahou 38, University 36, OT
Kamehameha 65, Iolani 41
Division I Girls
Iolani 54, Punahou 34
Kamehameha 66, Maryknoll 37
Division I-AA/II Girls
Iolani 44, Punahou 36
Hawaii Baptist 41, Mid-Pacific 30
BIIF
Varsity Girls
Konawaena 38, Hilo 34
