Senior Reggie Eiland (left) and freshman Justin Yap (right) provided a boost off the bench to help the Spartans repeat. ScoringLive photo illustration

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Reggie Eiland and Justin Yap combined to play 18 minutes and totaled nine points, but their contributions off the bench could be felt as Maryknoll successfully defended its title after taking down top-seeded and then-No. 1 Kamehameha.

Eiland, one of three seniors, took on the role of being the team's defensive stopper and relished the opportunity to contain the opposing team's best scorers.

"We had to keep them off the catch and shoot and try to get them to put the ball on the ground and make a play," Eiland said referencing to their game plan as the Warriors shot 11 for 47 from the field.

Although Eiland is quiet off the court, his play and his hustle speak louder than words.

"He's super quiet. But he's a senior and that's all the senior boys and they're all tight. They want him to be successful and they all like him," Maryknoll coach Kelly Grant said, referring to the student section.

Eiland pounced on Kordel Ng's errant pass forcing the jump ball at the baseline, but his hustle didn't go unnoticed by the Maryknoll bench late in the first quarter. He also dove after a loose ball after poking it away from Paliku Kamaka and landed in front of the Kamehameha bench and later absorbed a charge as Preston Ponteras was driving to the rim in the third quarter.

His contributions don't always end up in the stat sheet, but he's been a fan favorite and other teammates feed off his hustle.

"That stuff is contagious. When his teammates see that kind of stuff happening, they all want to step in and do the same thing," Grant said.

Whenever he's ready to check in, the student section would chant out, "Reggie, Reggie!"

"I get a lot of support from my friends and shout out to them," Eiland said.

He finished with two rebounds and his lone steal came after he poked the ball forward as he was tailing EJ Kapihe, who was pushing it up court in transition.

"I just try not to do too much. I basically do defense and hustle," Eiland said.

With Liko Soares laboring around on a torn meniscus, Eiland came in for relief for defensive purposes, a substitution pattern coach Grant did throughout the game and the season.

"The entire thing we did the offense-defense with Liko and even Liko accepted the role that he's going to be an offensive guy because of the limitation of his injury in his knee. Reggie accepted that he's going to play the defensive portion. It was so perfect when we can sub in and out," Grant said.

Eiland doesn't get into the scorebook often and scored a total of six points in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu season, but his tip in off Parker Grant's miss dropped before the back board lit up and horn sounded as Maryknoll took a 19-10 lead going into halftime.

"I got the ball in the short corner, I drove middle and passed it to Parker. I just thought to get the board and put it up," Eiland said of the sequence.

"It's gratifying because I know he wants to score baskets. But he's established that role. He accepted the role of being a defensive stopper, kind of like how Payton (Grant) was as a junior, he did it this year. He did a tremendous job, I don't know how many charges he got in the last six games. He got some charges, he dove on the ground numerous times," coach Grant said.

Yap provided some much needed scoring on the team's biggest stage with seven points off the bench. He got the inbounds pass, pump faked to get Ng in the air, took a dribble then pulled up to give Maryknoll a 10-5 lead in the second quarter.

"I just do whatever I can for the team," Yap said. "My role right now is shooting and trying to do whatever I can."

He converted Noah Furtado's skip pass with a 3-pointer off the glass from the right wing in the third quarter to push the lead to 12, 26-14.

"I was ready to shoot it, but when Kordel jumps, it feels a lot closer. He closes fast and jumps really high. That startled me a little bit and my shot went off. It went long, hit the backboard, and went in," Yap said.

"I think that's the first one we got on a bank three. We must've had six or seven of this year guys banking on us. I tell my coaches, finally we get a bank three," Grant added.

He sank two free throws after being fouled on a reverse layup for the quarter's final points as the Spartans clung on to a 12 point lead going into the final period.

Big things are expected from the freshman, who according to Grant was averaging over 20 points per game at the intermediate level.

"As far as Justin, he's going to be the next star for our team as far as a scorer. He's going to take on Niko's role next year. Pure shooter, high basketball IQ, and he's going to be tremendous," Grant said.

His previous season high was 10 points and two triples against Damien back on Jan. 16 and erupted for 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field off the bench in their quarterfinal win over third seed Kamehameha-Hawaii on Feb. 19.

"That helped my confidence. In the pregame I wasn't really shooting good. When came to game time, I forgot about about and I just started shooting and it went well," Yap said.

The senior class consisting of Eiland, Niko Robben, and Soares left the program better than how they found it. Now it will be up to Yap and the rest of the underclassmen to keep the winning tradition going.