Punahou's Akahi Troske put up a shot in the paint against Leilehua. Troske scored 11 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in a win over the Mules. CJ Caraang | SL

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Wed, Feb 17, 2016 @ Moanalua

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Leilehua

47

Punahou

51

F/OT	1	2	3	4	OT
Leilehua (11-2, 17-9)	13	9	11	10	4	47
Punahou (9-6, 27-9)	12	7	13	11	8	51

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

A. Troske 11 pts  3/6 FTs

J. Gouty 19 pts  2 3pm  1/1 FTs

A. Troske 13 tot  5 off  8 def

K. Kauhi 8 tot  2 off  6 def

C. Mausolf 3 ast

J. Gouty 3 ast

SALT LAKE – After a lengthy Interscholastic League of Honolulu season, it was only appropriate that Punahou opened the OC16 Division I boys' basketball state tournament in overtime.

‘Akahi Troske put back his own missed shot with one minute, seven seconds left and the No. 3 Buffanblu survived No. 7 Leilehua with 51-47 win Wednesday night at Moanalua gym.

Punahou (10-6), which just finished a two-tier regular-season playoff, a postseason tournament and a playoff loss for the overall ILH title last week, will play third-seeded and No. 9 Lahainaluna (13-1) in a quarterfinal, 5 p.m. Thursday at Moanalua.  The Mules (11-3) will play Kahuku (9-7) in a consolation semifinal, 3 p.m. Thursday at Moanalua.

Troske and Zayne Chong, on the strength of three 3-pointers, shared the team lead with 11 points each.

Leilehua's dynamic guard, Joseph Gouty, led all scorers with 19 points, including 2-of-2 3-point shooting. Liam Fitzgerald followed with 11 points.

The overtime just added to an already lengthy season for the Buffanblu, who also had two OT games during the ILH season.

"Darnell (Arceneaux, assistant coach) and I were talking about it. It's not right for it to be any different," Punahou coach Darren Matsuda joked. "That's just the story of this team this year: everything's going to be tough."

The game with the Mules was much like the ILH season: close and dramatic.

The contest was tight throughout, except for a spell when the Mules used a 9-0 run to take a 22-14 lead with 3:49 left in the first half. But the Buffanblu quickly cut their deficit to three on jumper by Jared Lum and later a 3-pointer by Chong with 2:29 left in the half. It stayed that way until the break.

The game was tied twice and changed leads three times in the second half of regulation. The fourth period was dramatic. Punahou took a 40-36 lead with 5:33 left on a Chong 3-pointer. But the Mules scored twice in a row to tie the game at 40. First, Fitzgerald got a steal and took it all the way to make it 40-38. Gouty then got a rebound and went all the way to tie the game at 40 with 3:53 left.

The teams exchanged turnovers until 38 seconds left, when Kobayashi drained a 3 to put the Buffanblu ahead, 43-40. When play resumed after the teams each called a timeout, Fitzgerald made a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left to tie the game at 43.

It stayed that way after Arceneaux missed last-ditch long shot that missed to move the game into OT.

"We count on him," Matsuda said of Kobayashi, who scored all of his seven points in the second half. "He stepped up in a big moment. That was huge for us."

The Mules struck first on jumper by Koalii Kauhi 44 seconds into the OT. Later, Troske went to the free-throw line, but only made one of his two shots to pull Punahou to 45-44 with 2:57 left.

At 2:49, Anterrio Gainwell was fouled, but missed both free throws for Leilehua. Troske went to the free throw line with 2:09 and again went 1 of 2, but it tied the game at 45.

The teams traded missed shot before a steal by Jared Lum set up Troske's go-ahead basket.

"It just came back to me, so I put it back up," Troske said.

Cole Mausolf's steal led to his own basket to pad Punahou's lead to 49-45 with 32 seconds left before Leilehua pulled to within a one-possession game on Kauhi's basket with 12 seconds left. But between the two baskets, Gouty left the game with an injury. His ball handling and shooting skills were missed in the Mules' attempted rally. But Punahou sealed the game when hit two free throws with three seconds left.

Gouty also shared his team's lead in rebounds with eight with Kauhi. Gouty also had a team-leading four assists.

The Buffanblu, who had eight players in double-digit minutes of playing time, were built for endurance to survive the long ILH season and any OTs along the way. In all, 13 players logged in minutes for Punahou.

"We're built for this for the long haul," Troske said. "We got everyone playing, 15 guys deep."