University squeaks past Kamehameha, 51-49, for final ILH state berth

By Wes Nakama

Betting big on themselves by moving from Division II to DI this season, the University Lab boys basketball team cashed in huge Wednesday night by squeaking past gritty Kamehameha, 51-49, to earn the ILH’s coveted third and final state tournament berth.

A tense and vocal crowd of about 500 at Saint Louis’ Clarence T.C. Ching Gym watched Alika Ahu score on a driving layup for the winning basket with 0:00.5 showing on the clock as the Junior Rainbows improved to 19-9 overall and 9-5 in the ILH. They will be making their first Division I state tournament appearances since the championship season of 1988 at Kamehameha-Maui on Monday.

Senior point guard Nahiku Nahale-a scored a team-high 13 points with four assists and two steals to lead the Warriors, whose season ends at 10-17, 5-10.

“I’m spent, it’s been an emotional roller coaster,” said University coach Ryan Tong, who was a freshman and sophomore on the Jr. Bows’ state title teams of 1987 and 1988. “I’m just so proud of these guys for willing themselves to the victory tonight. That’s what it came down to, the kids made plays when we needed to.”

Kamehameha overcame a 36-30 deficit late in the third period to take a 49-47 lead on Cyrus Tasi’s layup with 1:17 remaining in the game. But Trey Ambrozich responded with a layup to tie it 26 seconds later, and the Warriors missed a shot from close range on their next possession, giving University the ball back for a final shot. After a timeout with 12 seconds left, the Jr. Bows inbounded the ball to Ahu, an athletic 6-foot-4 junior forward.

“I didn’t really do anything different, I just tried to go to the rack,” Ahu said. “With our size, we have a pretty big lineup, so we knew we could beat them in the paint.”

University’s “big three” front line of Ahu, Ambrozich (6-7) and Koa Laboy (6-4) finished with 16, 12 and 16 points, respectively, with Ambrozich adding seven rebounds and Ahu adding five boards.

The Jr. Bows used that inside advantage to take a 12-7 lead after one period, 22-20 edge at halftime and 38-33 lead entering the fourth. But trailing 42-37 two minutes into the final period, Makai Barr scored on a layup to ignite a 12-5 run capped by Tasi’s layup with 1:17 remaining.

“This is the third time we played them, and it’s hard to beat a team three times in a row,” Tong said. “We knew this was going to be a battle tonight. Our game plan was to kind of limit their paint touches. They’re a team that likes to get downhill, likes to dribble-drive. So our game plan was to play a little zone, but they made us pay, they started hitting three’s so we had to jump out of zone.

“They played phenomenal. That Kamehameha team is well-coached, and they have a lot of skill.”

Barr finished with 13 points, two assists and one steal.

After winning state championships in 1987 and 1988 with standout players James Williams and Brad Stewart and legendary coaches Bobby Au and Daryl Gabriel, University eventually competed in Division II and won a state title at that level in 2016. After a runner-up finish two years ago and third-place showing last year with many returnees expected back, the decision was made to compete in DI again.

This is despite having one of the smallest enrollments in the state (only 50 seniors) and not having a regulation-size gym to play home games in since 2020 — meaning practices on outdoor courts, or halfcourt in the gym.

“We’re road warriors, we go into everyone else’s gym and try our best,” Tong said. “It is hard, because there is homecourt advantage, a lot of times. But these guys never complain, they just want to take care of business. We believed that we should be here (in Division I), we feel that we are worthy of a (DI) state tournament.

“We had to take the long way, but we’re here. I’m so proud of these guys, I’m so happy. This means a lot to us, I’m an alumni and former player, and I was a little emotional before the game with these guys. This means a lot to our program, it really does. I’m just so happy we were able to punch our ticket to the state tournament.”