J.P. Saycon slashed through the lane and made a five-foot runner to lift Farrington to a 47-45 win over upset-minded University High in a semifinal game of the Hawaiian Airlines/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II Boys Basketball State Championships Friday night.

A crowd of about 400 saw the Governors (17-1), the tournament's top seed and champions of the Oahu Interscholastic Association, advance to their second state title game in four years. Farrington will meet defending champion Pahoa, of the Big Island Interscholastic Federation, in the 5 p.m. final at the Stan Sheriff Center. The game will be televised live statewide on OC16 and on the radio on ESPN1500.

"It feels good being so close to our goal," said Saycon, who led all players with 21 points. "It was a tough game, we were behind most of the game, but we came back in the end."

With both teams most employing zone defenses, the game took on a slow pace for the first three quarter, but ended in a frantic finish. The teams exchanged the lead three times in the final three minutes and 40 seconds.

A 3-pointer by Chadey Collazo -- his second in three Farrington possessions -- gave his team a 45-43 lead with 2:40 to play. The Junior Rainbows tied it on a pair of free throws by Nalu Kevin O'Conner at the 1:45 mark. After a traveling violation against the Govs, University got the ball back with about a minute to play and called a timeout with 25 seconds left.

However, Saycon drew a five-second closely-guarded violation against the Junior 'Bows with 5.4 seconds on the clock and Farrington received the final possession. With time winding down, Saycon -- a 6-foot junior guard -- received the inbounds pass, drove the lane and released a right-handed floater as time expired for the game-winner.

"It shouldn't have been that close, we just took them lightly," said Saycon, who scored 16 points in the second half. "I knew I had him within reach of the five-second call, so I was just waiting for the ref to call it."

University coach Walter Quitan was visibly upset about the call.

"We're obviously holding the ball for a last shot, the defender is not even putting pressure on the ball -- he's three feet away -- I mean, I've never seen that call at the end of a game," Quitan said. "When the defender is on the guy and the dribble is not trying to go somewhere, then you see the call ... but yeah, it's a tough way to lose."

Farrington coach Allan Silva gave credit to the Junior 'Bows, but felt the call was long overdue.

"University is a very good team and very well coached," he said. "We played good defense and that's how we got back in the game. Earlier in the game, I was telling the referee 'five seconds, five seconds,' and he kept missing it, kept missing it, but we got lucky and he called on that last play."

University, who was led by Guilherme Aires' 14 points, held a 25-20 halftime lead.

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