Mid-Pacific senior Harley Simon tries to get around a Saint Francis defender Greg Yamamoto | SL

Purchase image 1 of 1

Mon, Jan 16, 2017 @ Mid-Pacific

---

Saint Francis

37

Mid-Pacific

43

Final	1	2	3	4
Saint Francis (10-1, 15-4)	8	12	8	9	37
Mid-Pacific (11-0, 17-3)	9	8	13	13	43

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

B. Kovaloff 14 pts  1 3pm  5/6 FTs

O. Vaeatangitau 14 pts  2/4 FTs

B. Kovaloff 11 tot  1 off  10 def

O. Vaeatangitau 15 tot  8 off  7 def

B. Kovaloff 3 ast

K. Kalei 3 ast

MANOA — Mid-Pacific overcame Saint Francis' size to clinch the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II title with a 43-37 win over the visiting Saints Monday night.

Brilie Kovaloff had a double-double of 14 points and 11 boards and Harley Simon added 10 points and seven steals to help the Owls complete an undefeated regular season before a near-capacity crowd of about 650 at Mills Gymnasium.

Winning the league title also guaranteed the Owls (11-0 ILH D2) a seeded berth and first round bye in the Snapple/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II Girls Basketball state tournament, which begins on Feb. 1.

Saint Francis, who suffered its first loss in league play and dropped to 9-1, will also join Mid-Pacific in the postseason as one of four ILH teams in the D2 tournament.

The Saints' size advantage was evident from the get go as they boasted three players that were at least 5-foot-10 or taller, which included 6-foot Olivia Vaeatangitau, while Mid-Pacific's tallest player was 5-foot-8 freshman Paige Fahrni.

To counteract this, the Owls dialed up a full court press and trapped ball handlers in the half court. The strategy paid off as Mid-Pacific record 15 total steals and forced 26 turnovers.

"We knew Saint Francis was a really tough team, we knew they were a physical team so we had to come out and execute our game plan and the girls did a heck of a job coming out and banging with the big kids down low," said Mid-Pacific coach Sherice Ajifu.

While the Owls couldn't prevent the Saints from getting shots off in the post, they did at least force numerous misses from point blank range. On some possessions, Saint Francis would get multiple offensive rebounds, but come up with no points to show for it.

"Some times they fall and sometimes it doesn't, but the girls put in a lot of effort and both teams played well, just an exciting game to be a part of," said Saint Francis coach Chris Hoe.

Hoe added that the Owls' senior night crowd also affected his team.

"Sometimes there's so much nerves, so much excitement being in the game, so much crowd. This is probably our first game with a sold out crowd. Never probably got to them, but it's a good learning experience for the girls. We'll learn from this and get better."

Mid-Pacific trailed 20-14 at one point in the second quarter, but saw a resurgence after halftime to get back into the contest, shooting 6-for-10 from the field in the third period.

The first of back-to-back steals by Kovaloff gave the Owls the lead for good, 24-23 at the 3:53 mark of the third quarter, while the second forced a Saint Francis timeout that got majority of the Mid-Pacific fans on their feet.

"I just want to thank all the support that came out today, I think it really helped us," said Kovaloff, who added three assists.

From their the Owls were able to ride the momentum throughout the fourth quarter as they utilized a stall offense to great success and made their free throws to keep the Saints at bay.

Vaeatangitau led the Saints in the loss with 14 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks.