The dominance of Saint Louis basketball wasn’t about perfection.
The Crusaders mastered the science and geometry of their offense through years — going back to COVID — of everyday repetition. They harnessed athleticism into a finely-tuned defense that maximized discipline, accountability and toughness.
All the close wins this season and going back to the start of their three-peat state-championship run also depended on health. And only this year did they come across key injuries to two starters in the same game. When Shancin Revuelto and Stone Kanoa suffered injuries in a state semifinal win over Kahuku, the shift of momentum wasn’t obvious.
Punahou had already lost leading scorer Tanoa Scanlan to a season-ending injury to his hand. The difference? The Buffanblu had two weeks to adjust. Two weeks under longtime coach Darren Matsuda to evolve. They may not have become a better team, but the new look with essentially five guards, including eventual Star-Advertiser All-State player of the year Zion White, was something different and effective.
White kept his turnovers down and contributed in every key category, and with Kanoa relegated to the bench after testing out his injured left arm in the state final, Saint Louis played well enough to win. Punahou simply relied on its savvy, experienced guards to make key layups in the third quarter, and without Kanoa as a hub in the middle of zone offense, the Crusaders became dependent on perimeter shooting against Punahou’s matchup zone.
It was a calculated risk, but the best option chosen by Matsuda and his staff. And just like that, the run was done. Matsuda’s third state crown was the most surprising, he said after the title game. He chatted about a wondrous Buffanblu season after being voted coach of the year by the panel of coaches and media.
>> What was the most gratifying part of the season?
“Definitely the journey that this team had to take to finish on top. Youth and team school sports are often a microcosm of life where invaluable life lessons are learned. We had our highs and lows throughout the season. We had a lot of adversity and struggles with various injuries and illnesses throughout league play and especially at the end of the league with Tanoa going down. But the team really embraced our culture of staying together, staying in the moment, and staying the course — no matter what the season threw at us. The resilience of this team to keep fighting through adversity is what I’ll remember the most with this group and is something I think they’ll carry with them for other aspects in life.”
>> What are some of the similarities and differences of this team and your previous state-title teams?
“The common quality that all our championship teams had is that ‘championship synergy’ that is created when everyone is willing to be selfless and put team first and their love for each other. This group, like our 2012 and 2018 groups really embraced those qualities that I think are common in almost every championship team. This always starts with your most talented players. This year, Tanoa, Zion and Ethan (Chung) had to be willing to share the ball, share the spot light and buy in and work to have their games best complement each other for us to be successful. They did an outstanding job of always putting the team and winning first and not worrying or focusing on personal accolades or ‘who got what.’ Similarly, Deforest Buckner, Malik Johnson and Nick Velasquez had that same mantra in 2012, and in 2018 Cole Arceneaux, Zayne Chong, Kaulana Maukaula and Duke Clemens had that same team-first mentality. All three teams also had great leaders who embodied our culture. Deforest, Steven Lakalaka and Sean Gruebner in 2012, Cole, Duke, and Mani Tufono in 2018, and this year Dash Watanabe, Tanoa and Zion.
“The biggest difference is the make-up of this year’s group compared to the other two teams. The 2012 and 2018 teams were seniors and upperclassmen heavy in terms of our best talent and leadership that were really veteran laden teams that had been through the wars. This year’s group was a really young team, after losing nine seniors and having no returning starters from last year’s team. However, the leadership of this year’s 6 seniors, many of whom were 1st year Varsity I players, was invaluable to our success. Those seniors will be greatly missed next year.”
>> Zion White transformed after having lots of ups and downs early in the season. What changed?
“Another gratifying part of this season was seeing Zion’s growth as a player this year. Even though Zion is known more for what he does on the football field, he’s also an outstanding basketball player who loves the game. Early on, we knew we had something special with our ‘three-headed monster” of Zion, Tanoa and Ethan as long as they were willing to let their games complement each other and put team first. All three players were willing and were successful in doing that. Tanoa was the scorer, Ethan the shooter and Zion the all-around ‘Swiss Army knife’. Our best defender, rebounder and playmaker. In the beginning everybody was willing to fill into their roles to help us succeed. Once Tanoa got injured, the roles had to change. We had to somehow make up 18 points a game, make up for Tanoa’s on-court leadership, and playmaking and basketball IQ. We had to reinvent ourselves as a team.
“Zion really embraced the challenge after losing Tanoa. He really stepped up his game on and off the court, leading the team and doing everything he could to help us win, sometimes putting the team on his shoulders, like the UH Lab playoff game to punch our ticket into states.”
>> Having two potential players of the year at a young is not common. I think back to Justice Sueing and Brian Washington at Maryknoll, D.C. Daniels and Ikaika Alama-Francis of Kalaheo.
“I think we’re just really fortunate to have two great basketball players and more importantly two outstanding quality people on the same team. I think five to 10 years from now we’re going to see great things from both kids on and off the court and field.”
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