Pupu Sepulona (35) goes up past Jerome Lilio (44) for two of his 25 points. Brandon Ching | SL

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Tue, Jan 24, 2023 @ Saint Louis

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Maryknoll

43

Saint Louis

53

Final	1	2	3	4
Maryknoll (10-5, 26-7)	9	11	7	16	43
Saint Louis (9-4, 27-7)	15	12	17	9	53

P. Sepulona 25 pts  1 3pm  6/8 FTs

J. Yap 16 pts  2 3pm  2/4 FTs

Pupu Sepulona dropped 25 points and No. 3 Saint Louis took care of business to pummel top-ranked Maryknoll, 53-43, in the ILH Division I regular season finale at the Clarence T. C. Ching Athletic Center Tuesday.

On the final night of the regular season, the Crusaders, Spartans, and Iolani finished with 7-3 records. A playoff will determine the single elimination tournament seeding and a state tournament berth. Maryknoll will play at Iolani on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and the winner advances to face Saint Louis on Thursday at the same time.

The first round of the single elimination tournament starts Friday and the top two seeds play in semifinals on Saturday.

Saint Louis' two losses were a combined 11 points heading into the contest but got back into the win column decisively. 

"Today was a team win. We played great on both sides of the court, offense and defense. I give all credit to my team," Sepulona said. "We kept our composure. We knew it would be a crowded gym and before the game, we gathered together and prayed. We told each other to stay calm, relax and let the game come to us."

While Sepulona stuffed the scorebook, Jordan Nunuha added nine off the bench, Keanu Meacham scored eight, and Shancin Revuelto with five. Their contributions went beyond the point tallies.

"Coming into this game, Jordan, Keanu, Shancin made a big step for themselves. Even though they're freshman and sophomores, they have a chip on their shoulder and they make my game easier. They get rebounds, take charges, they play defense and they can score too," Sepulona said.

"He benefited by a lot of things other people did. He's a humble and gracious teammate. Keanu, Jordan was tremendous. Long shots, long rebounds. It was a total team effort and that's what we've been preaching, we're not just one person, we're a team," Saint Louis coach Dan Hale added.

The Spartans led 9-3 early on but the Crusaders roared back and reclaimed the lead. Saint Louis took advantage of the fouls and got in the bonus with 56.8 seconds left in the first quarter. Nunuha split a pair of free throws and Kaniala Woo was whistled for a technical foul. Revuelto hit the technical free throws to give Saint Louis a 15-9 lead.

Nunuha extended the lead to seven after draining a triple from the left corner. The Crusaders maintained a five point lead and got to the double bonus with 3:34 left in the second quarter as Maryknoll racked up 13 fouls in the first half. Hunter Marumoto's 3-pointer cut the deficit in half to trail by three, but Maryknoll could not get any closer.

Sepulona added a bucket and Meacham was fouled as he tossed up the shot but could not complete the 3-point play. Jerome Lilio scored from the right block with 1:14 to go but Meacham connected with Revuelto on a backdoor lob to give Saint Louis a 27-20 lead at halftime. 

Sepulona scored nine of the team's 17 third quarter points and the team held Maryknoll to seven in the stanza. Zion Milare hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to get within single digits, but the Crusaders responded with an 8-0 run capped by Revuelto's full court pass from the baseline to a streaking Nunuha for a transition layup to make it, 39-23.

"It's a read for him," Hale said of Revuelto's deep ball. "He has the green light on my end and read where they are and he has different options that he has. If that's the one he wants, go for it."

Fabian Camacho stopped the bleeding for a moment but Revuelto threw another long pass to Stone Kanoa, who finished in transition. Lilio converted Marumoto's assist but Sepulona hit a deep 3-pointer from the top as time ran out to give Saint Louis a commanding 17-point lead heading into the fourth.

Justin Yap and Lilio accounted for all of Maryknoll's 16 points in the fourth. Yap scored nine and finished with 16 points while Lilio added seven and finished with 11. Marumoto finished with nine and connected on a pair of 3's.

"They're good, you're not shutting guys out like that, but you have to make them work for their baskets. They're the best players in the state. You can't relax and they're going to hit some shots. You can't let that snowball and we have to do what we needed to do," Hale said.

The Crusaders swept the season series and won the first matchup, 54-49 on Jan. 12.