A part of J.P. Saycon's competitiveness wishes his team were in Division I. But he'll take the Hawaiian Airlines Division II state boys' basketball crown just as well.

Saycon put on a show to help Farrington beat defending champion Pahoa, 58-45, Saturday night at the Stan Sheriff Center to give the Governors their second Division II crown in four years.

"It feels good," said Saycon, who had 11 points, including a crowd-pleasing dunk, and six assists. "It would've been better if it were D-1 state champs, but I'll take D-2, you know. I take pride in this win."

The Governors' size advantage made it look like a mismatch against the Daggers. But Farrington didn't ask to be in D2. The O'ahu Interscholastic Association uses a formula based on a combination of last year's varsity and JV records. Farrington coach Allan Silva said the title isn't diminished because it is D2.

"D-2 is just as good," Silva said. "A championship is a championship. They'll decide next year as far as how they want to divide up the divisions. Basketball is basketball. Every level is good."

The Daggers had only two players listed as six feet or taller (both starters), compared to the Governors, who started four player six feet or taller.

"Unfortunately, I think the size was a factor," Pahoa coach Eric Yoshimura said. "But we've played against bigger teams before. It's a tough loss for our team."

Yoshimura said he had no problems facing a team that probably would have contended in Division I.

"For us, that's not really an issue,"Yoshimura said. "We came here to play, to defend our title. We can't control who's D1 or D2. We just focus on the things we can control. What we can control is our play here tonight. Unfortunately, it wasn't good enough to defend our title.

"Our boys played hard, battled all season. We were just one game short."

Lancelot Williams led the Governors with 13 points and 15 rebounds, while Nicklas Fisher led the Daggers with 23 points and 11 rebounds.

But in was Saycon who put on a show. His dunk in the first half brought rousing cheer from the crowd.

"I wasn't too sure I was going to make it because I was injured earlier in the half," the 6-foot Saycon said. "But it went in."

Saycon said he hurt his Achillies heel earlier in the game.

"I heard my Achillies crack a little, but I didn't want to miss this game," he said.


DIVISION II ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Most outstanding player: J.P. Saycon, Farrington

Nicklas Fisher, Pahoa
Theo Duplechain, Island Pacific
Lancelot Williams, Farrington
Guilherme Aires, University
Alex Ironside, McKinley

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