University Lab's Anson Canencia puts up a shot in the lane against Seabury. Canencia scored a game-high 10 points and added four rebounds and four assists in the win. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Sat, Feb 20, 2016 @ Stan Sheriff

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University Lab

46

Seabury Hall

31

Final	1	2	3	4
University Lab (11-3, 24-6)	13	8	10	15	46
Seabury Hall (13-1, 15-3)	7	8	9	7	31

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

C. Hanisch 12 pts  2 3pm  2/2 FTs

A. Canencia 10 pts  2/4 FTs

C. Jenkins 10 tot  1 off  9 def

R. Kaleikini 5 tot  5 def

C. Dobson 3 ast

A. Canencia 3 ast

MANOA—It's been 28 long years, but University Lab finally wins a basketball state championship.

The Interscholastic League of Honolulu runner-ups claim their first-ever Division 2 title over the Maui Interscholastic League champion Seabury Hall, 46-31, in the OC16/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division 2 Boys Basketball State Championships at Stan Sheriff Center.

Things have come full circle for Walt Quitan. He won state back-to-back titles as a player and this time he wins it as a coach at his alma mater.

"It feels good, I've been coaching a long time and I feel like we've been here a lot and accomplish a lot of things, but this definitely completes my coaching career. It's been a long time for our school, the whole student body was here and my former players," said Quitan.

University started strong to lead the whole game. To get into the state tournament, they survived a barnburner against Damien in overtime. Their average margin of victory in this year's state tournament was 15.3 points.

Seabury Hall came into the state tournament unseeded, but took down fourth-seeded St. Joseph and top-seeded Saint Francis to reach the title game. This has been uncharted territory for the Spartans given their previous shortcomings in the state tournament.

"I'm extremely proud and I am blessed to be in a position to work with terrific young men. I can't help but feel disappointed right now, but I understand we've done some amazing things this year and will never be forgotten in our program," said Seabury coach Scott Prather.

"They run their offense real well and they did it against Saint Francis. Saint Francis is an athletic team and well-balanced and well-coached and it shows what kind of team they are," said Quitan, on Seabury.

Anson Canencia led the Jr. Bows with 10 points, four assists, and two steals. Micah Agacaoili added nine points and Ryan Hobus added eight. Hobus had 19 points in their semifinals win over Honokaa.

"With this team, a bunch of guys can step up and score. Different guys step up on different nights. It wasn't really my night but it doesn't matter because we got the win," said Hobus.

Canencia attacked the basket with a nifty floater and as the defense collapsed on him, he dished it out to open teammates.

"He picked a hell of a time to not turn the ball over and make some plays," said Quitan. "He's always done positive things, but made mistakes and got out of control, but tonight he picked the right time to play a complete game."

"I try to create for my team, when I penetrate I like to dish on the bottom and share the ball," said Canencia. "I was waiting for the fourth quarter I knew they had to come out more and I had to use my speed to get by them."

It was a team victory for the Jr. Bows with players like Otto Taylor, Charlie Fox and Radyn Kaleikini stepping up with key rebounds and baskets.

"I told this team is a complete team their strength is they're a complete team. All nine guys contribute and it paid off," said Quitan.

University's defense made it tough on Seabury Hall's offense, forcing them to shoot 11 of 38 (28.9 percent) from the field and the Spartans committed 17 turnovers.

"They did a great job, they had athleticism and quickness. We don't see that level in our league, although we adjusted to it. They played better than us and we had some opportunities to hit some shots, they were good looks, any given night it goes down, unfortunately they didn't go down and we came up short," said Prather.

"The guards do a great job pressuring the ball and getting steals and it feeds our offense," said Hobus.

The Jr. Bows led, 21-15 at halftime.

University shot 19-for-33 (57.6 percent) from the free throw line for the game. They 9-for-15 in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

Cameron Hanisch, whose game-winning 3-pointer got Seabury to this point, led the Spartans with 12 points, including two 3's. Christian Jenkins grabbed 10 boards, nine were defensive.

Division II All-Tournament Team (as selected by the media and HHSAA)

Ryan Hobus, University
Isaiah Payne, Seabury
Supilani Mailei, St. Franics
Kea Callihan, Honokaa
Cameron Hanisch, Seabury
 
Most Outstanding Player: Anson Canencia, University