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Brandon Ching | ScoringLiveJanuary 27, 2024, 3:49am
Fri, Jan 26, 2024 @ Leilehua
WAHIAWA—The inbounds play wasn't meant for him, but Lauvai Pine made it count. The senior forward converted a go-ahead 3-point play in front of a raucous crowd to lead No. 4 Mililani past No. 8 Leilehua, 52-50, in the OIA West Division I regular season finale at Paul T. Kobayashi Gymnasium Friday.
The Trojans (10-0) clinched the OIA West's top seed in the upcoming playoffs and finished the regular season unbeaten for the third-straight season and in the process spoiled Senior Night by handing the Mules (9-1) their first league loss.
"It feels great more so it's at their place. When you play at an opponent's, they have the home court advantage. Just proud of our guys persevering, toward the end it looked a little bleak, but we made plays when we had to," Mililani coach Garrett Gabriel said.
Pine scored a team-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting and was a perfect 5 for 5 from the free throw line.
Timothy Dorn used his 6-7 frame to his advantage and finished with a double-double, 11 points and 11 rebounds to go along with two blocks and three steals.
"It's all about effort. The first half, I was playing sloppy, I needed to pick it up so I knew I didn't have it going so I knew I was going to make an impact one way or the other," Dorn said.
LeCedric Brown was 4 for 7 from the field for 10 points and Roman Gabriel added eight points and two of the team's three 3-pointers.
"Just the game itself. Everybody made plays on both teams. We knew playing these guys, if we played them 10 times, it would be 5-5. We have respect, we know how good they are, and I think they respect us. Every time we play it's going to be a good game," Gabriel said.
After a missed corner 3 from Gabriel, Twain Wilson pushed it up court and found Wyatt, who hit a step-back 3-pointer to give Leilehua a 50-49 lead with 33 seconds remaining.
"I just like the way they fought back in situations that look bleak, especially the 3-pointer off the backboard, Roman taking a bad shot at that time. It was all learning lesson, but those types of things can hurt us in the end," Gabriel said.
Following a timeout, Pine received the sideline inbounds, drove past Ui Muti and drew a blocking foul on Matteus Ioane as he went glass.
"Actually we wanted to get the ball in," explained Gabriel. "Our guy threw it to Lauvai, but we wanted to go to set up our basic offense. I guess he saw the clock, saw Muti on him, and he knew he had some speed advantage and he just took. Hell of a play by him."
"That was not for me, no sir. It was probably for Tim (Dorn), but he (Muti) cut it off, I went around him to the cup. I was scared I had three fouls and wasn't sure if it was a charge," Pine said.
Pine hit his fifth free throw to complete the 3-point play for the go-ahead basket to make it, 52-50 with 18.4 seconds left.
"For the final possession, we just believed. We wasn't worried, we had the two best players on the court and we weren't worried. All we needed was a shot and you see what he (Pine) did. He got the and one and we just needed a shot," Dorn said.
Leilehua passed it around before Wyatt put up a 3-pointer from the right corner that hit back iron and Dorn secured the rebound to end the game.
"We love and trust each other in the big moments, end of the game, we weren't worried. We knew we had it. When it comes to moments like that, we believed and trusted each other," Dorn said.
Leilehua was seeking its first win over Mililani since Jan. 30, 2020 when they won, 50-49.
Three Mules scored in double figures led by senior guard Twain Wilson. He scored 21 on 7-of-16 shooting, Tyree Wilson with 12 points and six boards, and Cobe Wyatt chipped in 11 points.
Pine scored six of the Trojans 12 first quarter points. Brown scored in transition to make it 10-5. Twain and Tyree Wilson accounted for all of the Mules' quarter points. Davyn Joseph found Dorn by the right block for a layup for a 12-9 lead after the first quarter.
"Anytime you can go inside-out, it's the best type of offense you can have. The defense needs to collapse. So we tried that because of our two bigs. At times it works, at times it doesn't," Gabriel said.
Pine extended the lead 18-11 after converting an assist from Gabriel on the right block. Matteus Ioane answered with a putback, but Gabriel canned a triple from the right wing to go up, 21-13.
Leilehua closed out the second quarter on a 7-0 run. Trystin Stevens hit a pull up and Twain Wilson converted a 3-point play in transition. After Dorn missed a pair of free throws, Ui Muti hit a runner as the Mules trailed, 21-20 going into halftime.
"It was more of our offense being stagnant. We can't take one shot, 3-pointers, miss and play defense for 20-25 seconds. I told them we have to get more movement in our offense. It's okay to pass up a good, shot because it's probably going to be open the next time around," Gabriel said.
Twain Wilson tied the game twice in the third quarter with a 3-pointer and then converted a 3-point play after basket interference. Cobe Wyatt's baseline drive gave the Mules their first lead since the opening minutes in the first quarter.
Dorn tipped in Joseph's missed free as he was fouled. The game went through three lead changes, before Pine took it to the rim and was fouled. He hit both free throws for a 37-36 lead going into the fourth.
"I told him, we got to go. We got to make them. A lot of it was getting it to the baseline and attacking, which breaks down the defense. We were trying that but they're pretty good. They got size, quickness, we were fortunate," Gabriel said.
Mililani extended their lead to six following Brown's putback, but Wyatt cut the deficit in half with a 3-pointer. Twain Wilson scored the next four points including a steal to make it, 43-42, but Brown answered with a triple with 4:03 to go.
Wyatt tied the game at 45, but Dorn hit a jumper and Pine added another from the baseline to make it, 49-45 with 1:37 remaining.
"I was just doing my assignments, finishing at the rim. If someone cuts in, I pop out for the mid range," Pine said.
Twain Wilson was fouled on a 3-point attempt and hit two of his three attempts at the 1:22 mark to trail 49-47.
"We stayed positive the whole season, we had some setbacks, but we bounced back," Dorn said.
The Trojans had a 31 to 24 advantage on the boards and shot 21 of 45 (46.7 percent) from the field despite shooting 3 of 13 from 3.
The Mules finished 19 of 47 (40.4) percent from the field and was also 3 of 13 from the 3-point line.
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