When the St. Louis boys’ basketball team beat Mililani last season in the HHSAA championship, it broke a 36-year long streak since the last Crusaders state title.

Led by sophomore sensation Pupualii “Pupu” Sepulona, St. Louis would make sure there would not be a wait between titles this time. 

Campbell held on to an early lead, using junior Miles Hornage’s hot touch to get going. While the rest of the offense was slow to warm up, the Sabers defense flustered St. Louis early on.

The Crusaders eventually settled in, following the game plan that had helped get St. Louis to the championship in the first place. The ILH champions followed the lead of the six-foot-three-inch Sepulona on offense while starting to lock things down on the defensive end. 

“We knew they were good and talked about how [Campbell] had played at a high level,” St. Louis coach Dan Hale said postgame. “We just talked about doing the things that we did that got us here. We focused on our defense, we focused on finding our guys in the right positions. We had some adversity, [Sepulona] gets fouls, we have to sit him, but the other guys stepped up and kept it close.” 

Campbell continued to fight, entering halftime with a one-point lead thanks to a Josh Ellis 3-pointer just before the horn.

Coming out of the halftime break, Sepulona scored six straight points in the third quarter before picking up his third foul of the night to help increase the Crusaders lead to six, 32-26.  

Just as it looked like St. Louis would start to pull away, a 6-0 Campbell run to end the period knotted things back up at 32-32 with a quarter left to play. The run, punctuated by a buzzer-beating Malik Jackson layup, sent the Sabers faithful into a frenzy as the game entered the final frame. 

In the fourth, the Crusaders once again featured their sophomore forward down low. Moving the ball around the perimeter before entering it into the post to Sepulona, St. Louis drained the clock down while still putting points on the board. The big man, while struggling to get shots down low to go, was successful in getting to the free throw line to propel the offense.

“It was the defense and [Sepulona] that got us here,” Hale chuckled postgame. “He’s a phenomenal talent. He can do things, contort himself and shoot shots at different angles, and we needed every single one of those things to beat [Campbell]. That team is really good, my hat is off to them.”  

After another pair of Sepulona free throws gave the Crusaders a four-point lead with just under 30 seconds to go, Jackson hit an off-balance three-pointer at the other end of the floor to cut the Campbell deficit to one, 38-37, with 22.7 seconds to go.

St. Louis would hit both free throws on the ensuing possession to go back up by three, but an Ellis layup with five seconds to go cut it to one, 40-39, and saw the Sabers hopes remain alive.

Crusaders’ junior center Jordan Posiulai went to the line looking to put the ILH champions up by three, but missed the first free throw before hitting the second one to take a 41-39 lead. A tipped pass following a Campbell timeout would spell the end for the OIA Division I champions, as St. Louis completed the 2022 title defense in style by following it up with another championship in 2023.  

St. Louis was led by Sepulona’s 15 points, most of which came in the second half after the sophomore big man dealt with first half foul trouble. Posiulai contributed 11 points and four rebounds as the Crusaders won their second consecutive state championship.

It is the first time St. Louis won consecutive state titles since the 1966 through 1968 seasons, when the program won three straight state championships. It is the Crusaders’ eighth state championship in program history.

ALIAMANU — “Just settle down.”

That was Farrington coach Steven Leopoldo’s halftime message to his Farrington Governors, who avenged an early season loss to the Kalani Falcons on Wednesday night, winning the OIA Division II Championship in overtime, 68-55.

While the result ended up in favor of Farrington, the venture there was anything but smooth and calm. 

Kalani raced out of the gate, flustering the Governors with a full-court press while shooting 46% from the field in the opening quarter to take a 14-7 lead.

The Falcons strong first half, powered by junior guard Joshua Schutter, continued into the second period as turnovers killed the Govs and allowed Kalani the chance to get out into the open court for scoring chances. 

Even when Farrington was able to possess the ball, not much was going right for the second-place team from the OIA East Division II as the Governors failed to make a basket in the quarter. The only three points in the frame for Farrington came from the free throw line as they entered the locker rooms down, 26-10.

With 16 minutes to mount a comeback, Leopoldo remained confident in his team.

“Be patient,” the coach reminded his team. “Get the ball inside. When we start getting the ball inside, we establish the lane, and the ball comes back out for open shots.” 

An offensive game plan for the Governors, who had looked unsteady on offense throughout the entire first half as demonstrated by the numerous turnovers the team committed, proved effective. 

Farrington came out on fire, as Gerald Gallardo found his shooting stroke while the Governors scored 17 points in the quarter to cut the lead to nine. Schutter was held off the board in the period, helping aid the Farrington run. 

Chansen Smith, a junior varsity call-up for the Govs, had himself big bucket after big bucket as well. After chipping in five points in the first half, the guard knocked down a big 3-pointer in the third as Farrington continued to creep closer. 

The fourth quarter was more of the same, as the Govs locked down the Kalani offense. Farrington allowed just one field goal in the quarter and cashed in from the free throw line.  

Senior big man Dominique Mose Smith was a dominant force as the game wound down. The center scored five of his 15 points in the fourth, including two clutch free throws to give Farrington the lead. 

“He’s a big plus to our program,” Leopoldo gushed about Mose Smith. “I wish I could have him one more year, but fortunately [we have him now]. He does all the rebounding. Everybody depends on him.” 

A late foul drawn by Kalani’s Joaquin Manaligod gave the junior forward a chance to win the game at the line, but a miss on the first and make on the second sent the contest instead to overtime.

In overtime, it was once again Mose Smith taking over for Farrington. The big man ripped down multiple offensive rebounds and scored seven points in the overtime period before fouling out with his team up by double-digits. The Governors would go on to close it out, 68-55. 

The 16-point comeback by the Govs not only seemed to stun the Falcons, but leave Kalani unable to snap out of the funk. Farrington outscored Kalani in every period after halftime, including a 25-point offensive clinic in OT.

The veteran Farrington coach thinks the second-half turnaround and the depth of the Govs could be a look to what may be ahead for states.

“Everything is [starting] to come together for the next three games,” Leopoldo said as he alluded to the number of games potentially left between the Governors and a Division II state championship.

Gallardo, who was held scoreless through the first half, led Farrington with 17 points and 9 rebounds. Dominique Mose Smith had himself a monster game, ending with an impressive 15-point, 15-rebound double-double. Farrington advances to next week’s HHSAA D2 State Championship tournament following the win.

Kalani was paced by Schutter’s 16 points, though the Govs held the star junior to a 3-19 shooting performance. Junior Cole Hata came off the bench to score 13 points for the Falcons, who had already clinched a spot in the HHSAA D2 State Championship tournament. 

ALIAMANU — The Campbell Sabers (23-5, 12-1) came into the evening with just one blemish on the team’s OIA league record, a late regular-season loss at West-leading Mililani (18-4, 12-1), 58-52. 

The Sabers avenged that loss Wednesday night, downing the Trojans in overtime, 50-45, to claim the program’s first OIA Division I championship. 

The journey to even have an opportunity for revenge on Mililani for Campbell was long, hard and made sure the Sabers would be as battle-tested as possible. 

The West’s second-best team throughout regular season play, Campbell dispatched Moanalua in the quarterfinals, 65-54. The win was costly, as Sabers leading scorer Rondell Blenman-Villarreal injured his ankle late in the contest and would be sidelined for the team’s semifinal matchup against unbeaten OIA East leaders, Kailua (21-5, 12-1).

Forced to take on the top overall seeded Surfriders shorthanded, the Sabers played Kailua mostly even through three quarters before surging ahead in the fourth. Campbell held off a last-second Jonny Philbrick 3-point try to move on to Wednesday’s championship game and allow Blenman-Villarreal to return to the lineup.

Mililani entered the game after a close call with Leilehua (16-9, 10-4) in the semifinals, as the Trojans escaped the Mules, 40-37.

Mililani got out to a quick start in the finals, as senior Jayden Kipapa drilled a triple to open play up. An and-one by fellow senior J Marxen on an ensuing possession opened a 6-2 lead over Campbell and forced Sabers head coach Wyatt Tau to take an early timeout to settle his squad.

The timeout proved effective, as the Sabers raced ahead to a 9-6 advantage at the end of the opening quarter as Mizah Carreira scored all 9 points for Campbell.

Mililani flexed the metaphorical muscles in the second quarter, sparked by a Creighton Ofsonka personal 11-0 run to take a double-digit lead midway through the period.

Ofsonka would go down briefly to a leg injury following the run but would later be able to return to the game without a limp. Campbell capitalized on the forward’s absence from the floor, closing the halftime gap to just six, 26-20.

Just as was the case in the Division II championship game just a couple of hours prior, it was the team looking for revenge who took control in the second half and beyond to take the title.

The Sabers came out of the locker room recharged, sparked once again by Carreira’s electric scoring ability and pride on the defensive end to shut down Mililani’s top scorer in Kipapa.

“I actually wanted to go back to our zone,” Tau said of his second half defensive strategy. “[Carreira] was the one that told me ‘No, Coach, I got [Kipapa]. I’ll pick him up, nobody needs to help.’”

Kipapa came out of the locker room with some extra juice as well, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers, with the help of some Trojan screeners freeing up space, to start the quarter. It was then that Carreira switched onto Kipapa, who would not score again.

That was not the case for the Sabers guard, as Carreira sliced up the Mililani defense to the tune of eight third-quarter points while Campbell continued to chip away at lead that was at 10 points during the period.

Entering the fourth down 35-32, Campbell’s Malik Jackson had yet to get on the board after leading the Sabers with 14 points in the semifinals. That changed after Jackson was fouled on a 3-point attempt from the corner, as he went to the line and went two-for-three to cut it to a one-point Mililani lead.

Carreira gave the Sabers their first lead since the opening quarter on the next possession, knocking down a fall-away elbow jumper to go up, 38-37, with 6:15 left to play.

Campbell started to run the clock with long possessions and the lead, but a Timothy Dorn 3-pointer with just over two minutes left to play knotted the score at 42-42.

Neither side was able to get a shot to go down, and the rematch of the January 13 matchup between the two teams needed an extra period to determine the OIA Division I champion.

The scoring drought would continue for both sides until the 1:55 mark in overtime, when Campbell forward Miles Hornage got a runner in the lane to go. The Sabers would not trail again, holding the Trojans to just one basket in overtime.

Hornage would ice the game with a pair of free throws with just seconds to go, giving Campbell the 50-45 win over Mililani, avenging the Sabers previous loss, and earning the program’s first OIA title. 

It was only Campbell’s third appearance in an OIA championship game, but “like they say, third time is the charm,” Tau smiled and stated postgame.

“[We] wouldn’t have been able to do this without a lot of help from our administrators, our principal, our [athletic director], from teachers. Just a lot of people put in so much work with our kids.” Tau continued. “[The team and community] knew how special this team was and I’m just glad to be a part of this good bunch of kids.” 

Campbell was led by Carreira, who had 21 points on 8-14 shooting. Hornage chipped in 12 points for the Sabers and went 6-6 at the charity stripe. Campbell now heads to next week’s HHSAA state tournament, where the OIA Division I champion will have a first-round bye.

Mililani got 15 points and 12 rebounds from Ofsonka, who bounced back nicely after a scary fall in the second quarter. Kipapa ended the night with 12 points, though the senior was held scoreless in the fourth quarter and overtime. The Trojans will now play a first-round game in next week’s 12-team state tournament.