Nick Duran of Leilehua took home the Most Valuable Player honors after leading his team with 18 points. He scored 11 in the first half and made four 3's for the game. Peter Caldwell | SL

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ALIAMANU—It came down to the wire, but the public school team swept the night.

Joseph Gouty's free throw with 2.5 seconds remaining gave the public schools the win over the private schools, 82-81 in the Third Annual Geremy Robinson Senior Classic at Radford's Jim Alegre Gymnasium on Saturday.

Nick Duran of Leilehua took home the Most Valuable Player honors after leading his team with 18 points. He scored 11 in the first half and made four 3's for the game. His teammate Gouty added 16 points and Hirk Latu (Kahuku) scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

"It feels good and they are all great players. It feels good to play with people that understand the game," said Duran. "We all got along and I thought it would be different because we had rivalries during the season."

Zach Gelacio (Iolani) scored a game-high 25 points and sank three free throws to tie the game up at 81 with 9.3 seconds remaining after he was fouled a 3-point attempt. He made six 3's for the game. Kaeler Kahana (Kamehameha) added 13 points, he scored 10 in the second half and Robby Mann (Iolani) added nine.

Gouty was fouled by Daniel Florenco (MPI) and went to the line. He sank the first and missed the second as a desperation shot was no good.

The OIA would jump out to a quick lead, but the ILH chipped away as Gelacio's 3-pointers would keep it close. He hit four of his 3's to score 14 in the first half.

The OIA sank 10 3's for the game while the ILH made 13.

"It was expected, these are the best guys in the state. They are going to knock down shots and everyone shouldn't be surprised by it," said Kahana.

The OIA led by 10, 47-37 at halftime.

The OIA kept at least an eight point cushion over the ILH, but the private school kids kept battling back and cut it to two, 72-70 after Kahana's 3-pointer. Tristan Nichols (Saint Louis) gave the ILH their first lead of the game after converting a pass from Anson Canencia (University) to make it, 76-74.

"It was fun and good experience. The environment was good and everyone was friendly," said Kahana.

Huthifah Abdel Jawad (McKinley) sank a 3 to make it, 81-78. He and Gouty also showed off their ball handling skills and managed to dish out assists to open teammates. Abdel Jawad won the 3-point contest and Chance Kalaugher (Kaiser) won the dunk contest.