MANOA — With their backs against the wall and hoping to avoid an 0-3 start in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, Mid-Pacific Institute fought all 32-minutes to beat Maryknoll, 45-44. First-year coach Ryan Hirata challenged his team the whole game and they responded.

Last year, the Owls were on a nine-game losing streak before they won their first ILH game on Feb. 5, 2013 against Saint Louis, 53-46. Ironically, MPI (1-2) hosts the Crusaders (2-1) on Friday, Jan. 16.

Hirata is a fiery competitor and can be heard yelling at his players throughout the game. When his team trailed 10-2 early in the first quarter, he called a timeout to challenge and wake up his players. The Owls responded with a 7-0 run following the timeout and trailed 10-9 heading into the second quarter.

"Our team is a team of responders, we find ourselves down early in the ball game and we find our way back. Chalk it up their resiliency, they come to practice with that same mindset and come into games with that mindset," said Hirata.

He was especially tough on point guard Daniel Florenco and to Florenco's credit, he answered the call and scored a team-high 15 points off of aggressive drives to the basket.

"Every practice coach gets on me because he knows I can get better and he believes in me and I have to trust what he does," said Florenco.

"I pulled him out for a bit to have him settle down and what a change it was, it was a totally different Danny that went back in the game. For him to respond like that to me who is always yelling at his face, shows a lot about his character and his leadership and how far he's come," said Hirata, on Florenco.

He was a standout player at Iolani and seemed to have an unlimited shooting range since he is best known for knocking down deep 3's. He spent some time on the Raiders' coaching staff before becoming head coach at MPI. Hirata wanted bring that winning mentality from his Iolani days to his team. When MPI trailed 44-43, with under 30 seconds remaining, he implored his team during a timeout, "Don't be afraid of the moment!"

In the postgame interview, he commented that a lot of these guys haven't been in these situations and were often on the short end of the stick and this was a good test for his young team and he hopes they can build on it.

Hirata put together a tough preseason schedule to get his team prepared for the ILH season and they have grown a lot since I first saw them against Farrington on Dec. 12 in the OIA-ILH Challenge at Moanalua and in the Iolani Classic.

What stood out in this game was their defense and how they executed their zone well enough to give them a chance. All five players hustled to their spots and closed out aggressively forcing some Maryknoll turnovers. They made driving lanes difficult for Justice Sueing, Jr. and tried to force the Spartans to shoot from the outside. 

Ken Colombe, who hit the game-winning shot summed it up best.

"There are winning programs and there are programs that need to be taught how to win, and that's what we're learning with coach Ryan. Just his passion in practice— that carries on to us. Sometimes we get down or sometimes we go on a bad streak and he keeps motivating us. We don't take it personal or else we'll get down. We'll take it because we want to get better and that just uplifts us."