Campbell's Mizah Carreira (1) raises the championship plaque claiming the Sabers their first boy's basketball league title in school history at Radford's Jim Alegre Gymnasium. CJ Caraang | SL

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Wed, Feb 1, 2023 @ Radford

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Mililani

45

Campbell

50

F/OT	1	2	3	4	OT
Mililani (12-1, 18-5)	6	20	9	7	3	45
Campbell (12-1, 25-6)	9	11	12	10	8	50

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

M. Carreira 21 pts  1 3pm  4/4 FTs

C. Ofsonka 15 pts  3 3pm  0/0 FTs

M. Jackson 7 tot  2 off  5 def

C. Ofsonka 12 tot  5 off  7 def

M. Hornage 4 ast

J Marxen 4 ast

ALIAMANU — Title No. 1 is headed to Ewa Beach. 

Led by Mizah Carreira's game-high 21 points, seventh-ranked Campbell rallied past No. 6 Mililani, 50-45 in overtime, in the title game of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I boys basketball tournament Wednesday night. 

Before a capacity crowd at Radford's Jim Alegre Gymnasium, the Sabers (12-1) rallied from a 10-point, third-quarter deficit to dethrone the Trojans (12-1), who were seeking a second straight league crown. 

It is Campbell's first OIA championship in program history. 

"This feels amazing," said Carreira, who entered the game averaging 11.8 points per game in league play. "It feels great because I know all my boys deserve this. We worked super hard, so we left it all on the floor tonight."

The Sabers avenged the lone blemish on their record — a 58-52 loss at Mililani on Jan. 13 — and, in the process, handed the Trojans their first loss. What's more, the Sabers will have a first-round bye in next week's Heide & Cook/HHSAA State Championships. 

"In over 50 years, this is the third time that we ever went to the OIA championship. Finally," Campbell coach Wyatt Tau exclaimed. "Like they say, third time's a charm and this is our third time and I wouldn't have done this without a lot of help from our administrators, our principal, our (athletic director), teachers — just a lot of people who put in a lot of help for our kids."

With leading scorer Rondell Blenman-Villarreal (13.6 points per game) playing on a still-healing ankle, Carreira's contributions were considerable. He shot 8 of 14 from the field and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line. 

Carreira scored eight of Campbell's 12 points in the third quarter. More importantly, he was matched up defensively against Mililani's prolific scorer, Jayden Kipapa, for much of the second half. 

Tau disclosed that he was leaning toward utilizing more zone defense after halftime, but it was Carreira who implored him to reconsider. 

"He was one who told me, ‘No, coach. I got (Kipapa),' " Tau said. 

Carreira and Kipapa are close friends off the court, Tau shared. 

He went on, "Kipapa came to our senior night and gave a lei to Mizah. They just hang out and cruise together, but (Carreira) said, "I got him, coach.' … He wanted to watch him."

After Kipapa drained a half-dozen 3-pointers and scored 29 points — half of Mililani's total — the first time the teams met, Carreira was determined to keep history from repeating itself. 

"After that first time, he said, 'Coach, my fault. I should have known better. I know how he plays, I know what type of player he is. I should have been more involved and tonight he was,'" Tau said of the senior guard. "He did a hell of a job today."

Carreira said the switch to man-to-man defense and an emphasis on closing out on shooters were instrumental to the final result. 

"We had to switch to man. The coaches reminded us, on every screen just switch because on the screen we kept getting confused on which man to switch to, so we had to just fix a couple of adjustments and we were right back in it," Carreira said. 

"We work on that (closing out on shooters). Our coach preaches that defense wins game, so yeah, we practice that a lot at practice, so luckily it worked out," he added. 

The Trojans took their largest lead of the night, 35-25, on a Timothy Dorn 3-pointer with 3:01 left in the third quarter. Blenman-Villarreal countered with a layup on the other end to spur a 7-0 run by the Sabers to close out the period. 

Carreira hit a 16-foot jumper at the 6:15 mark of the fourth quarter to put Campbell ahead, 38-37. A few minutes later, Malik Jackson's putback made it a 42-39 lead, but Dorn hit another from beyond the arc to knot it at 42 with 2:07 left to play. 

Both teams had opportunities at the bucket in the final minute of regulation, but neither was able to convert and instead the game went to overtime. 

In the extra period, Miles Hornage put the Sabers ahead for good with 1:55 remaining after he drove the lain, spun across the paint and hit a floater from 10 feet. After a missed Mililani 3-pointer, Blenman-Villarreal threw a long outlet pass to Carreira, who made the easy basket to make it a 46-42 advantage with 1:31 to play. 

The Trojans got a 3-pointer from J Marxen to get within 46-45 and 1:03 remaining. However, Josh Ellis got to the free-throw line with 26.4 seconds to play and made both free throws. Mililani had two looks at the tying 3-pointer on their final possession, but both were off the mark and Hornage sealed the win for Campbell with a pair of free throws with 2.3 seconds left to make it a two-possession game. 

"I thought the first half went pretty well," Mililani coach Garrett Gabriel said. "I thought we played pretty good considering. Second half, we let too much defensively. We had defensive transition breakdowns, they got some early baskets and again, the confidence, but they're a hell of a team — they've got size, skill — so we needed to play well the whole game. Unfortunately, the last three minutes or so wasn't as good as we'd wanted."

Creighton Ofsonka recorded a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Trojans. Marxen tallied eight points, four boards and four assists and Dorn added six points, three rebounds, three assists, three blocks and a steal off the bench. 

Kipapa finished with 12 points on 4-of-15 shooting, including a 3 of 11 mark from distance. 

"Last time he had six 3-pointers. Yeah, we couldn't let that happen again because that was crucial," Carreira recalled. "We did our best, though, on defense."

Mililani shot 17 of 51 from the field (33.3 percent), including 9 of 24 on 3-pointers (37.5 percent). It was just 2 of 3 from the free-throw line, while Campbell made 14 of its 15 from the charity stripe. 

The Sabers were 17-of-42 shooting from the field and 2 of 9 from beyond the arc, but had 28 points in the paint to the Trojans' 14. 

"They started being a little more aggressive and they made the plays when they had to, we didn't, so hats off to them, they're a good team," Gabriel said of the Sabers, the No. 2 seed out of the Western Division behind the Trojans. 

Hornage finished with 12 points as Campbell's only other playing to score in double-figures. Josh Ellis had five points and Blenman-Villarreal, Jackson and Mason Muaau chipped in four points apiece and 18 combined rebounds. 

"Coaches just kept reminding us that we don't work for nothing, so we just left it all on the floor, just let us do us and let the game come to us and not get overexcited. Just let the game come to us and it all worked out; it all fell into plan," Carreira said. 

Mililani led at the half, 26-20. 

The Sabers had a bye in the first round of the tournament, then beat Moanalua, 65-54, in the quarterfinals, before a 51-49 upset of fifth-ranked Kailua in Monday's semifinal round. They have won their last five games since the six-point defeat at Mililani three weeks ago. 

"We were working out early mornings, late nights and we just had to leave it all on the floor and make it worth all that hard work we put in and it turns out, hard work beats talent," Carreira stated. 

Mililani beat Roosevelt and 10th-ranked Leilehua en route to Wednesday's title game. It was trying for its third league title and second straight under Gabriel. 

"It's tough because the league is tough and every game is a grind, but I feel confident in this bunch," Gabriel said. "I know we didn't repeat, but at the same time, we're in the state tournament and we can learn from our mistakes and get better."

The Trojans reached the Division I state final last season, but will be unseeded in next week's 12-team field. They will host a first-round game Monday.