Keanu Meacham scored 17 points and Shancin Revuelto had 10, adding a key deflection in the final seconds, as No. 1 Saint Louis escaped with a 53-52 win over No. 2 Punahou on Thursday night at Clarence T.C. Ching Gymnasium.
Pupu Sepulona added seven points for Saint Louis, now 3-0 in ILH play (19-1 overall, 3-0 ILH). Defense was still crucial for the three-time defending state champions. Punahou (17-4, 2-1) trailed by 13 points in the first quarter but chipped away until Saint Louis made its stand.
“We’ve still got to play them at least a couple more times,” Revuelto said. “That’s the ILH right there. Punahou’s not going away.”
The game was tied at 52 when Caelan Fernando hustled for an offensive rebound on a miss by Revuelto and Zion White committed his fifth foul with 4.7 seconds to play. Fernando made the second of his two free throws. After calling time out, Punahou tried to go full-court, but Revuelto slapped the ball out of Tanoa Scanlan’s hands near the right wing, 25 feet away.
Scanlan recovered the loose ball, but his improvised shot missed as the buzzer sounded.
It was a rough night for Scanlan, who sat much of the game in foul trouble. White finished with 18 points, shooting 8-for-16 from the field and 2-for-4 at the free-throw line, adding nine rebounds. The dynamic 6-foot-5 sophomore also had seven turnovers.
Scanlan finished with 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting. The 6-foot-6 sophomore scored 10 points in the final quarter. The torrent of fouls by Punahou was a big factor.
“That’s the first time we’ve had that much foul trouble, but other guys had to step up and they did. We got slapped in the mouth in the first quarter. We were a little bit tentative, but what’s really good about this team is they’re resilient,” Punahou coach Darren Matsuda said. “They stuck together and we worked our way back into the game.”
Saint Louis will host No. 3 Maryknoll at 5 p.m. Saturday. Punahou entertains Kamehameha on Tuesday.
In boxing, this would have been an early TKO. Punahou struggled mightily against Saint Louis’ man-to-man defense, going 0-for-7 with three turnovers and just two offensive rebounds.
In the meantime, Saint Louis bolted to a 12-0 lead behind a patient motion offense and balanced scoring. Sepulona came off the bench in his first week back, but started on Thursday and opened the game with his familiar spin move to the bucket for a bank shot.
Punahou finally broke its scoring drought on an elbow jumper by Scanlan with 2:37 left in the opening quarter.
Saint Louis took its biggest lead in the first quarter, 17-2, on an and-1 fast-break score by Corey Bailey.
Down 17-4 entering the second quarter, Punahou was 2-for-11 from the field and had five turnovers. The Buffanblu gained some momentum on buckets by Scanlan and White, but Scanlan was whistled for his third foul with 5:45 to go in the second quarter while attempting to block a layup.
The Buffanblu pushed their fast break, and after White scored on a three-point play, it was 20-16. Punahou’s matchup zone blanketed Sepulona on the block, and White kept working.
White hustled for two more buckets in the paint, tying the game at 20 with four minutes left in the first half. After their 20-8 run, the Buffanblu cooled off. Saint Louis regained the lead, 25-20, with three points from Meacham.
Revuelto’s corner 3 beat the buzzer, giving Saint Louis a 28-24 halftime lead. White was 0-for-3 from the field with four turnovers in the first quarter, then shot 5-for-8 from the field and 2-for-3 from the line for 12 points with four rebounds and no turnovers in the second quarter.
Crusaders defensive stopper Stone Kanoa committed his second foul before the end of the first quarter and sat the rest of the first half.
Scanlan returned to the game, but almost immediately was called for his fourth foul on a drive in the paint by Fernando. Punahou’s season-long leading scorer went back to the bench with 7:06 remaining in the third quarter.
Saint Louis extended the lead to 35-27 on foul shots by Fernando and Meacham, but Punahou closed the gap. Tate Takamiya’s layup cut it to 43-42 with four seconds left in the third quarter.
Punahou finally took the lead, 48-47, on a turnaround jumper by Scanlan. Saint Louis regained the lead on a 3-pointer by Revuelto, and after two big steals by Kanoa, had the ball with a 52-50 edge and 2:22 left.
“We tried to stop them doing their fast breaks, Zion getting downhill,” Kanoa said. “That’s how we closed the game out. Hard work and determination.”
The Crusaders came up empty on two consecutive possessions with missed layups by Sepulona and Jordan Nunuha. Scanlan then drove hard and scored on Sepulona, drawing a foul. Scanlan’s potential go-ahead free throw missed, and it was 52-all with 44.6 seconds to play in regulation.
Sepulona, the two-time All-State Player of the Year, is in his second week of basketball after recovering from a partial tear of his left MCL during football season. Coach Dan Hale relied heavily, as usual, on a deep bench.
“I think I’m in there just to play defense. My goal was to defend against Tanoa,” Sepulona said. “To hold him to single digits. He scored only four points on me and that was my goal. That’s my uso. I’ve known him since I was a young guy.”
Averaging 18 points per game, Scanlan had six points in the first half.
