Michael Lasquero | ScoringLive
January 20, 2018, 11:26pm
Saint Francis claims ILH D2 title over HBA
Saint Francis' Nani Santos drives into the lane for a layup against Hawaii Baptist. Michael Lasquero | SLSaint Francis stays perfect once again.
The sixth-ranked Saints completed an undefeated run through the regular season with a 47-43 win over visiting Hawaii Baptist Saturday afternoon.
Nani Santos scored 13 points and Kaimi Kalei had 12 points and two treys to help Saint Francis capture the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II title in the win.
The Saints (15-0 ILH D2) also clinched a seeded berth and first round bye in the D2 state tournament of the Snapple Girls Basketball Championships, which begins on Jan. 31.
Kyley Nakagawa poured in a game-high 16 points and Sasha Phillip added 10 more to lead the Eagles (13-2 ILH D2) in the loss.
Hawaii Baptist was dealt a big blow to its lineup when Ally Wada, the All-Hawaii D2 Player of the Year two seasons ago, went down with an injury at the 2:15 mark of the second quarter. She was helped off the court and did not come back in the game, but was able to return to the bench to support her teammates in the second half.
Saint Francis jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, but Hawaii Baptist was able to chip away, taking its first lead of the game in the third quarter after a 3-point shot by Cydni Yoshida and a three-point play by Phillip gave the Eagles a 30-26 advantage.
Kalei regained the lead for the Saints on her second triple of the contest, which helped the home team close out the third period on a 10-2 run.
Phillip helped retake the lead and also later tied the game for Hawaii Baptist in the fourth quarter, but consecutive free throws by Kalei gave the Saints the lead for good, 44-42.
Saint Francis shot 14-for-25 from the free throw line while the Eagles were 17 of 33 from the charity stripe.
