Maryknoll's Marcus Tobin rejects a shot attempt by Kalani's Jared Ki. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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_16112602_MaryKala_8267.jpg - Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Maryknoll held off a furious Kalani rally in the fourth quarter to win, 40-38 on the opening day of the Hawaii Self Storage Black and Gold Classic at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium.

Returning point guard Isiah Gelacio scored 8 of his 17 points in the first quarter to lead the Spartans in scoring.

"We have a young team. We have to start playing together. We're doing a good job driving and kicking out and hitting 3's," said Gelacio.

Maryknoll will miss Brian Washington's length and shot disrupting presence in the paint after he moved to Las Vegas according to coach Kelly Grant.

The Spartans front court for today's game consisted of Kaulana Schmidt, Jaylen Cain and 6-foot-4 sophomore Marcus Tobin. Maryknoll will look to ball handlers Gelacio and Jordyn Perez to guide the offense.

"Maryknoll usually had elite size. It was nice to have a somewhat balanced matchup," said Kalani coach Nathan Davis.

Jaylen Cain hit two free throws to give the Spartans a 40-38 lead, but Jordyn Perez missed a free throw with 28.1 seconds remaining to possibly extend the lead.

The Falcons called a timeout with 10.4 seconds left on the clock. Micah Kawano's jumper was no good and Makoto Kamata grabbed the rebound to end the game.

"We are going to have to get used to having close games during the season. This will help us," said Gelacio.

Max Pepe hit a three-quarter court shot to bring the Falcons within six, 26-20 going into halftime.

"This year's team we preach a lot of ball movement. A lot of unselfishness and a lot of energy. I think our bench energy allowed us to do that," said Davis.

Cain sparked the Spartans as they jumped out to a 7-0 run to start the third quarter. Gelacio hit his fourth 3 to give Maryknoll a 36-23 lead.

"We have to learn how to keep that big lead," said Gelacio.

Kapaa Nishimura scored a team-high 19 points and went 3-for-3 behind the arc to rally Kalani. His 3-pointer at the 2:30 mark tied the game at 38.

"He's our guy. I think it opened through ball movement. Kapaa is just a shooter who happened to be taking the shots," said Davis.

Everyone listed on both rosters received playing time. It was a way for both coach Davis and coach Grant to test out different lineups.