Saint Francis' Blayne Won puts up a shot against University High. Sylvia Lee | SL

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University High's Ryan Kaleikini attempts to beat a Saint Francis defender off the dribble. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Saint Francis' Ranan Mamiya attempts to get a shot off between two University High defenders. Tyler Kanoa | Special to SL

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Saint Francis' Nayton Koki looks for a shot in the paint against University High. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Sat, Jan 18, 2014 @

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University Lab

37

Saint Francis

41

F/OT	1	2	3	4	OT
University Lab (8-4, 13-12)	7	7	14	7	2	37
Saint Francis (9-2, 18-13)	11	9	6	9	6	41

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

B. Won 17 pts  3/7 FTs

R. Kaleikini 17 pts  2 3pm  3/7 FTs

B. Won 9 tot  5 off  4 def

R. Kaleikini 8 tot  8 def

R. Mamiya 1 ast

A. Canencia 1 ast

MANOA--Saint Francis edged out University High in overtime, 41-37 in a crucial Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division 2 game at Saint Francis School Gymnasium on Saturday night. Since starting the ILH season 0-2, the Saints have won three straight games. Saint Francis improves to 3-2 in the ILH Division 2 while University High dropped to 3-2. Both teams are currently tied for third place while Hawaii Baptist (4-1) and Damien (4-1) are ahead of them.

"It shows a lot of character on our part," said Saint Francis coach Sol Batoon, on the victory. "We had good practice sessions and we have been concentrating on what we need to get done. We were more deliberate tonight, that's why the score was low. We played good defense and we played as a team, they never gave up. This was a huge game, it gives us good momentum and there are four good teams up there and we're trying to survive this."

"It seems there is a lot more parity. I think six teams can beat each other on a given night, all the games are close and decided by a play here, a play there and tonight, they made one more play than we did. I was more upset at the first half than losing the game at the end. The way we came out, we have to correct that. When these games are tight in this kind of situation, I thought we could've played better in the first half and maybe change the complexion of the game, they were without their leading scorer and maybe they would do stuff differently. We bounced back in the second half and played well, but didn't get it done in overtime," said University High coach Walter Quintan.

Trailing 35-32, Saint Francis' Ranan Mamiya drove and kicked it out to Kyle Lau in the right corner for a 3-pointer that tied the game at 35 with 9.4 seconds left and the Saints called timeout. It was his first made 3-point field goal for the game after going 0-for-4 and that turned out to be the big shot.

"I told myself, if I got the ball, I would shoot it. I had confidence in my shot and I believed it would go in," said Lau.

University had a play set up following the timeout and Eric Leung had a clean look at the basket, but missed the baseline jumper and the game went into overtime.

"We went up three and hat's off to them, that kid (Lau) hit a big shot. I don't think they hit an outside shot for the whole game. We designed a play and had a good shot, we had a six or seven footer to win, but it didn't go in. They got the tip and scored right away in overtime and we could never get back," said Quintan.

The Saints outscored the Jr. Bows 6-4 in the overtime period. Nayton Koki hit a field goal on the right block as he was fouled for the 3-point play and his free throw made it 38-35. The Saints went 3-of-8 from the free throw line in the overtime period. Lau went 1-of-2 from the free throw line to make it 40-37.

With 22.9 seconds left, the Jr. Bows called timeout. Following the timeout, Anthony Canencia had an open shot at a 3-point attempt from the right wing, but it didn't fall. Saint Francis' Justin Sarsuelo grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He missed the first attempt, but he made the second attempt to make it 41-37. Canencia made a layup with no time remaining to make it 41-39, but it didn't matter as the Saints held on for the victory.

In the fourth quarter, Ranan Mamiya's layup tied the game at 30 and University called timeout at 3:14. Cancencia had a jump shot in the paint to go up 32-30. From then on it was about making free throws. The Jr. Bows went 5-of-6 from the line while the Saints went 4-of-8. Koki managed to tie the game at 32 after he hit 1-of-2 free throws. Kaleikini made 1-of-2 to put the Jr. Bows up 33-32. After Saint Francis' Keola Kealoha fouled Canencia, he made both free throws to put University up 35-32.

It was a low scoring affair as the Saints shot 31.9 percent (14 of 37) from the field while the Jr. Bows shot 37.8 percent (14 of 37). The Saints shot 40 percent (10 of 25) from the free throw line and the Jr. Bows shot 53. 8 percent (7 of 13).  

Saint Francis' leading scorer Matthew Nuumanaia (15.8 points per game in the ILH) was absent tonight and did not play due to the flu.

"Matt was sick, he has the flu, we told him not to come and to stay home and rest. Our kids played as a team tonight and as they have been in the past two games and this is the third game we played as a team and they knew how important this game was," said Batoon.

"Matt is a key guy on our team. Without him tonight we struggled, but we were able to pull through," said Lau.

"Having our star player out, it wasn't just me who had to step up, a lot of people had to step up offensively and defensively. Justin Sarsuelo with that last rebound, Keola (Kealoha), Ranan (Mamiya), Nayton Koki, everyone stepped up and it was great to see," added Blayne Won.

Won was also recovering from food poisoning earlier this week, but scored a team-high 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds, five of them were offensive rebounds.

"It's all about positioning and because of my size it's easier to go over people, but it's all about positioning," said Won, on rebounding.

"Our offense is set around Blayne. That's why we have him pick and roll at the top. It gives him an opportunity to go to the basket and if we can give him a clean pass, he can take it to the basket because he can do that. Rebounding wise, he has a knack for the ball and he goes after it, that really helps us," said Batoon, on Won.

In the third quarter, University High rallied. Joshua Akamine hit his second 3-pointer near the top of the arc to make it 20-19. Ryan Kaleikini tied the game at 24 after he hit a 3-pointer from the right wing. He had a steal and layup to put the Jr. Bows up 26-24, their first lead since the opening basket in the first quarter. University outscored Saint Francis 14-6 in the quarter to take a 28-26 lead.

"I think we came out flat, it was disappointing the way we came out. They dominated the paint and we couldn't get in any kind of offense. We made some adjustments in the second half and I thought we played really well. We clawed back and had the lead for most of the fourth quarter," said Quintan.

In the second quarter, Blayne Won had a rebound and putback to push the lead to 13-7 and University High called a timeout. Cancencia passed it to Joshua Akamine who hit a 3-pointer to make it 13-10. Saint Francis outscored University 7-4 to lead at halftime 20-14.

In the first quarter, Anthony Canencia put the Jr. Bows up 2-0 after a jumper from the left wing. However Saint Francis responded by scoring seven straight points. Anthony Canencia found Ryan Kaleikini in the right corner for a 3-pointer to make it 9-5 and Canencia hit a jumper to cut the deficit to two, 9-7. Ranan Mamiya had a steal and layup before the buzzer sounded to put the Saints up 11-7.

Kaleikini scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Jr. Bows while Canencia scored 16 points, dished out four assists and had six steals. Canencia and Kaleikini combined for 33 of University's 39 points.

Saint Francis plays Damien on Jan. 21 at 6 pm and that game will be streamed on ScoringLive.com and simulcast on NBC Sports Radio/AM1500. Damien beat Saint Francis on Jan. 3 in the first ILH game of season, 59-53. University High will play at Le Jardin on Jan. 22 at 6:30 pm. Saint Francis and University High will play each other again in the last game of the ILH regular season on Feb. 4 at the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Klum Gymnasium.