Punahou's Cole Arceneaux drives to the basket against Saint Louis. Arceneaux scored seven points and pulled down seven rebounds in a win over Crusaders. CJ Caraang | SL

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Wed, Feb 10, 2016 @ Saint Louis

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Punahou

64

Saint Louis

61

Final	1	2	3	4
Punahou (9-6, 27-9)	10	17	18	19	64
Saint Louis (7-6, 21-8)	14	11	20	16	61

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

J. Nunuha 19 pts  3 3pm  2/2 FTs

A. Troske 19 pts  3/5 FTs

L. Sataraka 9 tot  2 off  7 def

C. Arceneaux 7 tot  1 off  6 def

T. Nichols 3 ast

C. Arceneaux 3 ast

KALAEPOHAKU—Fourth-ranked Punahou survived another tight game, this time they knocked out third-ranked Saint Louis, 64-61 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu single-elimination tournament semifinals at McCabe Gymnasium.

"These are great games— great for the fans, but hard for the coaches," said Punahou coach Darren Matsuda.

The Buffanblu, who eliminated Maryknoll and the Crusaders will take on Kamehameha for the tournament final on Friday. The winner of that game will have to play Iolani for the overall league title and seeded state tournament berth on Saturday. The Crusaders started the ILH season 6-1, but went 1-5 in their final six games to end the season at 7-6.

Chris Kobayashi sank both foul shots with 3.5 seconds left to make it, 64-61. Saint Louis got the ball near mid-court after it was deflected and the clock showed 1.6 seconds. Isaac Slade-Matautia inbounded the ball to Jaymason Nunuha, but he turned it over in the corner with 0.1 seconds left. Punahou inbounded the ball to end the game.

"It was a team effort and the ball just fell my way and I made plays when we needed to," said Troske, who came off the bench to score 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Nunuha had a team-high 19 points and Lance Sataraka's 15 and nine rebounds. Tristan Nichols scored 13 points, but went 3-for-9 from the free throw line.

Saint Louis looked efficient on offense and went on a 7-0 run in the first quarter to take a 14-6 lead and led, 14-10 going into the second.

The Crusaders started pulling away, but the Buffanblu rallied and tied the game at 25 after Kyle Yoshino's 3-pointer. Hunter Hosoda was fouled on a drive, but could not convert the free throw took a 27-25 lead at halftime.

The game was tied at 45 going into the fourth quarter. Coach Matsuda plays everyone on his roster and the depth started kicking in. Defense led to offense as Buffanblu opened up by hitting open 3-pointers and shots. Cole Mausolf hit a 3 to make it 57-50.

"Our philosophy is we like to play all our guys. We feel like we have 10 starters. It brings a lot of team-first mentality and selflessness," said Matsuda.

Saint Louis struggled at the free throw line for the game going, 8-for-19. The Crusaders used a 6-0 run and Nunuha's 3 cut it to one, 57-56 over 2 minutes remaining. Troske hit two free throws and Cole Arceneaux had a steal and layup to make it, 61-57. Purcell had a 3-pointer opportunity but it didn't fall. Slade-Matautia added a basket and Sataraka hit a 3-pointer and they immediately fouled Kobayashi.

"Our defense was carrying us and we're hitting shots. It was defense and ball movement that really helps us out. If we can do that and play well as a team, we have a good shot," said Matsuda.

"I was giving all my effort, it could be our last game and I left it on the court," said Troske.