Saint Louis center Tristan Nichols blocks a Kamehameha shot attempt. He had 21 points in the Crusaders win. John Lujan | Special to SL

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Sat, Feb 6, 2016 @ Kamehameha

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Saint Louis

69

Kamehameha

58

Final	1	2	3	4
Saint Louis (7-6, 21-8)	18	20	15	16	69
Kamehameha (8-6, 15-12)	17	5	13	23	58

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

K. Kahana 20 pts  2 3pm  10/10 FTs

T. Nichols 21 pts  9/17 FTs

N. Gelacio 7 tot  4 off  3 def

T. Nichols 9 tot  3 off  6 def

N. Gelacio 3 ast

L. Sataraka 3 ast

KAPALAMA HEIGHTS — Saint Louis' frustrations of losing was poured out in a momentous second quarter swing Saturday night.

The Crusaders ended their three-game losing streak with a 69-58 playoff semifinal win over host Kamehameha before a crowd of about 800 at Kekuhaupio Gymnasium. It was Saint Louis' first win over the Warriors in three meetings.

The four-team playoffs was needed to help determine the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I regular season champion. Saint Louis was one win away from locking up the regular season title, but dropped consecutive contests to Iolani, Kamehameha and Punahou that allowed all four teams to finish the with a 6-4 record.

"It's about time," first-year Saint Louis coach Allan Silva said on the win. "The kids finally played the way they were supposed to play. After those three losses we had a nice team meeting and got it together. As you saw tonight, they played like Saint Louis basketball."

Saint Louis turned a 19-18 first quarter advantage into a 38-22 halftime lead to decide the game early on.

"We had that lead in the first quarter and we had our foot on their neck," said Tristan Nichols' who led all scorers with 21 points. "We just had to push it down and don't let up."

Nichols' height and weight advantage took a toll on Kamehameha as the Crusaders attempted 40 free throw attempts in the contest. In total, the two teams combined for 71 foul shots.

"I knew they were coming after me because they got a lot of undersized guys," said Nichols, who was 9-for-17 at the line. "I got a little frustrated, but they're going to do what they got to do to win. I respect their coaches because they have a great strategy because they know that I'm not a good free throw shooter. I'm just blessed we got this win."

The senior center was one of four Saint Louis players that finished in double figures. Jaymason Nunuha scored 15, Isaac Slade-Matatuia had 14 more and Noa Purcell chipped in 10 points. Their combined effort helped the Crusaders shoot 50 percent from the field (22 of 44).

"They overpowered us," said Kamehameha coach Greg Tacon. "We just had bad rhythm to everything we were doing after we started the game so well on a good run."

Kaeler Kahana knocked down all of his 10 free throw attempts to lead Kamehameha in the loss with 20 points. Noah Gelacio had 10 points of his own to aid the Warriors.

The Crusaders will travel to take on Iolani Monday night at 6:30 p.m. The winner of that game locks up the regular season title and one of the league's two berths into the D1 state tournament.