Breaking News
Local Sports

MPA makes history

Triplett leads Na Pueo to first-ever state team championship, ending MIL drought

By Robert Collias 7 min read

Drew Triplett has proven time and time again that he can score on the basketball floor with ease. On Saturday, when his Maui Preparatory Academy team needed him the most, he turned to the pass.

Triplett dished out 16 assists, scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Na Pueo to a convincing win and the 81-student school's first-ever state team title.

MPA completed a 12-0 run to the Heide & Cook/HHSAA Division II boys basketball state title with a 65-35 win over Kaimuki on Saturday at the Neal Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu.

Triplett, The Maui News MIL D-II Player of the Year in 2020 who has scored 50-plus points twice in his MPA career, scored eight of his points in the first quarter, which ended with Na Pueo trailing 15-14.

Triplett believes that 16 is his career high in assists.

"I was driving in and everyone was collapsing and it opened everyone else up, so I was just finding them and they were hitting their shots," Triplett said via phone from Oahu Saturday night. "It was crazy, for sure. It felt amazing, especially because everyone, like I said, was hitting their shots, doing what they needed to do, put the ball in the rim. I was just able to set them up and they really finished the job."

HHSAA official Natalie Iwamoto said Sunday she believes the 16 assists are a state tournament single-game record, but is still researching the archives to confirm.

The margin of victory was the largest in the history of the Division II state final -- the first was played in 2007, although there was no game played last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Na Pueo are guided by co-head coaches Zach Bailey and Cheyne De La Garza.

"Man, I'm so happy for our kids, they put in a lot of work, a lot of sacrifices in the offseason," Bailey said. "Coach Cheyne, our coaching staff. Coach Cheyne and I, man, we work so well together. I'm so proud to be co-head coach with him. Happy for our school, our community, our history -- this is one that these kids and our players will remember forever."

It is also the first state title in boys basketball for the Maui Interscholastic League since Lahainaluna won the A Division state title in 1982. St. Anthony also won that title in 1977, the only other boys basketball crown in MIL history until Saturday.

"I was on the floor crying for a bit after the game," Triplett said. "It's just all surreal because obviously, like I talked to you about, this is the first win for Maui Prep, also the first win for Maui in 40 years, since 1982. So, it just means a lot.

"The support we've received all season from our close community -- obviously, we were kind of under the radar from everybody else -- but just the support we received from everybody, it's been really uplifting and gave us the confidence to come in and do what we needed to do."

Triplett was proud to make a little history for the MIL.

"It's crazy," Triplett said. "Seabury (Hall) and Baldwin were here tonight supporting us and a ton of people from our school community came. For Maui especially, just bringing it back home to the whole island, it's amazing.

"The whole island, pretty much everybody from all places, people who used to live there, they were all supporting us and everybody came together to give us the support we needed to fight through because these were a tough last three days, mentally, physically. But everybody was rallying behind us and I'm excited for them, for our school."

Na Pueo shot 23 of 45 from the field (51.1 percent) and 8 of 18 from 3-point range (44.4 percent). MPA held Kaimuki to 16-for-44 shooting (36.4 percent) and 3 of 14 on 3s (21.4 percent).

Jimmy Falk scored a game-high 17 points for Maui Prep, while Dylan Falk and Levi Basurto each added 12 points.

After trailing by one at the end of the first quarter, Na Pueo took control with a 17-4 advantage in the second. They upped the lead over the Bulldogs to 22 points going to the fourth quarter.

MPA, seeded fifth, won its three state tournament games -- against No. 4 Kapaa, No. 1 Kohala and No. 2 Kaimuki -- by an average of 24.7 points.

Bennett Bluh, one of six seniors on the 10-player MPA roster, got into the game Saturday and scored two points in three minutes. A key player for the team coming into the season, Bluh suffered an undisclosed injury in a preseason game and did not return to the court until Saturday.

"I turned the ball over a couple of times trying to get him the ball, I made a couple mistakes, but he was able to score and that was the main thing," Triplett said of his close friend. "Just when he came in, I obviously was really excited. Then when he scored I lost my mind a little bit.

"I'm so happy for him and proud of him for sticking through with everything he's been going through, sticking with it, staying resilient and having the mental fortitude to keep coming to practice, just keep doing what he needs to help the team."

Triplett was named the Most Outstanding Player of the D-II state tournament, while the Falk twins were named to the all-tournament team. In Division I, Baldwin's Quintan Akaka was named to the state all-tournament team after the Bears wrapped up their season with a 68-50 loss to Iolani in the D-I third-place game earlier Saturday.

Triplett, who played junior varsity basketball for Camas (Wash.) High School before moving to Maui Prep for his sophomore year, will never forget his fellow seniors: Bluh, the Falk twins, Koenig Biegel and Basurto.

The group gelled on a five-week trip to Houston last summer.

"And then coming back here for the season, and just working together, trusting each other, knowing that we had each other's backs the whole season, every single game, no matter what the score was, it feels amazing," Triplett said. "It's definitely a brotherhood we're going to have for the rest of our lives."

There are four returnees on the current roster -- junior Emerson Flores and freshmen Chris Salem, Kai Godwin and Kai Shively.

"I think there will definitely need to be a little bit of rebuilding in a sense," Triplett said. "Obviously, the young guys, I hope they stay around. They obviously could potentially leave if they wanted to. I hope they stick around because they've been with us all season, they pushed us. Without them we wouldn't have been here, we wouldn't have been able to do this.”

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.

KAIMUKI (13-5)

Malu Cleveland 2, Jeremiah White 7, Kesykil Renton 4, Rashawn Fritz-Betiru 15, Daysen Lupica 5, Jake Renton 0, Kenny Eaton 2, Jamen Hanis 0, Sean Arakawa 0, Mark Ludwig 0, Tristan Bunao, Harmon Sio 0.

MAUI PREP (12-0)

Drew Triplett 10, Bennett Bluh 2, Jimmy Falk 17, Dylan Falk 12, Koenig Biegel 7, Levi Basurto 12, Emerson Flores 5, Chris Salem 0, Kai Godwin 0, Kai Shively 0.

Kaimuki 15 4 5 11--35

Maui Prep 14 17 15 19--65

*****

IOLANI 68, BALDWIN 50

IOLANI (16-7)

Bailey Bumanglag 8, Jack Jones 7, JJ Mandaquit 14, Aaron Claytor 12, Kaimana Lau Kong 0, Kyle Koga 3, Taniela Taliauli 0, Akila Indalecio 6, Luke Tobin 2, Casey Lyons 11, Kaleb Tenn 3, Makani Tanaka 0, Jackson Dempster 2.

BALDWIN (10-4)

Kai Shing 0, Chaz Villados 0, Jayden Torres-Leeber 2, Alex Murata 0, Kobe Gonzales 3, Brody Reformina 0, James Medeiros 2, Kolt Yarbrough 0, Naliko Chung 2, Darren Castillo 0, Hudson Yarbrough 15, Avery Pauole 2, Trotter Apo 0, Quintan Akaka 24.

Iolani 24 14 17 13--68

Baldwin 11 8 19 12--50

*****

Boys Basketball State Championships

Saturday's Results • At Neal Blaisdell Arena

DIVISION II

Fifth-place game--Kapaa 53, Le Jardin 45

Third-place game--Kohala 78, Hawaii Baptist 46

Championship--Maui Prep 65, Kaimuki 35

DIVISION I

Fifth-place game--Maryknoll 49, Kahuku 47

Third-place game--Iolani 68, Baldwin 50

Championship--Saint Louis 57, Mililani 34

Starting at /week.