Pupu Sepulona poured in 26 points as Saint Louis knocked out Cathedral Catholic (Calif.) 56-38 in the semifinals of the Punahou Invitational on Thursday night.
Saint Louis will meet Oakwood (Calif.) for the title on Friday at 8 p.m. Oakwood scraped by Punahou, 58-57, on a 3-pointer by TJ Boyd with 16 seconds to play.
Saint Louis-Cathedral Catholic was a two-point game in the third quarter, but the taller Dons had no sustainable solution for Sepulona. The 6-foot-3 sophomore corralled a team-high seven rebounds, and shot 10-for-14 from the field and 4-for-5 from the free-throw line, but it was the patience and precision of Saint Louis’ young squad that was crucial.
Sepulona tweaked his left ankle during the second half but remained on the court until the game was out of reach in the final minutes.
“It’s a weird one. I tried to block the guy and I kind of landed awkward,” he said. “Today was a team win. Everybody pitched in and scored, and everybody played together on both sides, offense and defense. Defense — that’s our bread and butter. Helping, taking charges and overall just locking down.”
The turning point came in the third stanza. Cathedral Catholic got back-to-back 3-pointers by Shea Fitzgerald and Thomas Fleming, and a layup by Brody Seiber on a feed from Tre Lucia cut a 10-point Saint Louis lead to 26-24 with 4:15 left in the third.
The Crusaders called time out, and Fitzgerald celebrated at point-blank range of Saint Louis’ coaches.
“They were talking in our coaches’ faces, and talking trash. Up in Coach Dan’s grill. It is what it is. It’s part of the game,” Sepulona said.
Before the Crusaders huddled during the timeout, Hale said to the other bench, ‘We don’t do that here.”
Cathedral Catholic responded by sending Fitzgerald to the Saint Louis bench, where he apologized. A young Crusaders team heavy with freshmen and sophomores saw Hale respond directly to the taunting.
“It was surprising for us. Our coach got our back and he loves us very much,” Sepulona said. “We made sure that they wouldn’t beat us. We came out strong.”
That moment seemed to change everything. The Crusaders closed the third quarter with a 14-5 run as the Dons went ice-cold from 3-point range. They shot 1-for-6 from the arc in the fourth quarter and finished the battle 5-for-23 from deep.
“He got caught up in the moment. For me, it was just another way for me to motivate the guys. Guys are going to get caught up in the moment and try to get you out of your moment, and take you away from what you do well,” Hale said. “It was a good point for us because we could’ve gone either way. We could’ve lost focus, but at the end of the day we came together and we really executed from then on.”
By the time Jordan Posiulai sank two more free throws with four minutes left to play, Saint Louis had gone on a 26-7 run and had a 52-31 lead.
The Dons ceded and emptied their bench with 1:45 to go.
“We had to stay focused on what we were doing,” Hale said. “We cannot deviate if guys are talking, even to me, we can’t deviate. We tightened the ship and we went on a nice run, but it was with extra passes, helping on defense. We’re an inexperienced team that’s now played 17, 18 games. By now, we’re getting some good (defensive) rotations.”
Oakwood (Calif.) 58, Punahou 57
TJ Boyd splashed a corner 3 with 16 seconds to play as the Owls escaped with the semifinal win.
Ben Eisendrath led Oakwood (7-6) with 18 points, hitting four of the Owls’ 12 3-pointers. Peyton Slaughter scored 14 before being injured in the fourth quarter as Punahou’s Ayndra Uperesa-Thomas blocked his layup attempt. Oliver Ford and Boyd chipped in 10 points each.
Uperesa-Thomas was bullish in the final quarter on the boards and finished with 16 points. Dillon Kellner added 14 for Punahou (12-3).
Moments after Slaughter got hurt, Eisendrath splashed a 3 to open the Owls’ lead to 55-51 with three minutes to go.
Punahou went on a 6-0 run, taking the lead on Kellner’s 10-footer in the lane to go up 57-55 with 43 seconds left.
Uperesa-Thomas blocked a layup try by Eisendrath, but the Owls rebounded and fed Boyd in the corner for his go-ahead 3.
With five seconds left, Hayden Suslow stole a pass by Tucker Lam to seal Oakwood’s victory.
Kamehameha-Hawaii 57, Sandpoint (Idaho) 53
Kiai Yasso scored 16 points and Kawehi Huihui added 16 as the young Warriors edged the Bulldogs. Nixis Yamauchi added 12 for KS-Hawaii (6-5), which starts a freshman, three sophomores and a junior.
Rusty Lee led Sandpoint (3-6) with 18 points.
Bellevue (Wash.) 59, ‘Iolani 35
Point guard Brady Kageyama scored 13 points and Bryce Smith tallied 10 as the Wolverines (11-2) stifled the Raiders.
Akila Indalecio paced ‘Iolani (11-6) with nine points.
No. 8 Kamehameha 47, Waiakea 35
Xander Aquino led a balanced attack with eight points as Kamehameha (12-5) pulled away in consolation action. Kamehameha led 24-20 at the half and stretched the lead to 37-28 going into the final quarter.
Kaimalu Haleamau led Waiakea (3-5) with 10 points. The Warriors are playing without seven players due to trips and academic probation.
Mid-Pacific 62, Hawaii Baptist 55
Jarek Lee finished with 19 points, sparking the Owls (8-11) from a 12-point deficit for the win. Logan Mason added 12 points.
Jordon Qin and Matthew Shigetani led the Eagles (4-8) with 14 points, and center/forward Jackson Lincoln splashed three treys, finishing with 13 points.
Faith Lutheran (Nev.) 59, Punahou I-AA 45
JohnPaul Agu pumped in 23 points as the Crusaders posted their first win in the tournament. Bradley Steward added 11 points. Faith Lutheran (4-7) overcame 9-for-24 shooting at the foul line.
Skyler Yamada paced the Buffanblu (4-9) with 12 points.
University 50, Saint Louis I-AA 37
Koa Laboy poured in 17 points, and Todd McKinney and Duke Mobley chipped in 12 each for the Jr. ‘Bows (7-2).
Hayden Hannemann scored 12 points and Chaz Cadiz added 10 for the Crusaders (1-4).
