NAPILI — It was a coronation celebration from the opening tip on Friday night at the Bozich Center.

The home team from Maui Preparatory Academy (9-0) rolled past Seabury Hall 68-32 in the final of the Maui Interscholastic League Division II boys basketball tournament.

The win clinched the first MIL boys team title of any kind for Na Pueo, according to principal Ryan Kirkham. Drew Triplett, the MIL D-II Player of the Year in 2020 as a sophomore who has two 50-point games in his career here, scored all 24 of his points in the first half when the game was decided.

“It feels good, man, we’ve been working at it since I came here sophomore year when it was the first year as a varsity program,” said Triplett, a 6-foot-1 senior guard who said he might walk on at Pepperdine in the fall. “We’ve been working on it ever since we had some guys transfer in and obviously a change in the coaching staff.

“We’ve just done everything we can, stayed in the moment throughout this and it’s finally come to fruition and we’re just happy to be here.”

The school’s student section in a packed-to-the-rafters Bozich Center chanted “MVP, MVP, MVP” on several occasions as Triplett handled the ball. The students did not sit during the entire game and afterwards they stormed the court and celebrated with their team. The party also included the Lanai High School team that beat Molokai in the third-place game before the championship contest.

Na Pueo blasted out of the gates and never looked back. They led 31-5 after one quarter as Triplett had 14 points. At halftime, the margin was 45-18.

The largest lead of the first half was 41-5 with 5:26 left in the second quarter. The Spartans closed the quarter on a 13-4 run from there.

Two free throws by Levi Basurto with 4:20 left in the third quarter made it 51-20 and turned on the 30-point mercy rule running clock. Basurto’s corner 3 with 1:40 to go in the third made it 56-20.

Triplett, who took a hard fall in the tournament semifinals against Molokai on Thursday where he hit his head and shoulder, left the court briefly in the fourth quarter.

“Yesterday obviously I took a spill against Molokai in the semifinals and just throughout the third quarter (Friday) my head was kind of throbbing a little bit and I got sensitive to noise, so they just wanted to take me back and make sure that my head was all right,” said Triplett, who said before the game that he was checked for concussion symptoms on three different tests.

He added, “Yeah, I’m good.”

Next week, Na Pueo will be a contender for the D-II state title.

“Right now we’re just going to obviously enjoy this for a little bit, the rest of tonight and a little bit tomorrow and then get right back to it,” Triplett said. “Our goal this whole season has been to win the state championship and that’s what we’re going to start focusing on.”

It was simply a huge night all the way around for the tiny private school that had its first graduating class in 2010 with a total of eight seniors. MPA’s current high school ranks number 80 students.

“It means a lot, it means a great deal,” co-head coach Zach Bailey said. “With COVID happening and not having a team last year, our coaching staff and these players, they grinded and stayed the course and worked hard every single day to get to this point and it’s very gratifying.”

Seabury Hall (9-2) was led by James Judge’s 18 points. Six of 10 players on the MPA roster are seniors, while there are only three seniors on the Spartans.

“That team is a strong team over there,” Seabury Hall coach Scott Prather said. “They were the better team tonight.”

Both teams will be in the eight-team state tournament next week on Oahu.

“Big shout out to the other teams, like (Haleakala) Waldorf and Hana for sticking in there and giving us an extra bid,” Prather said. “You know, we’ve got a really young team and the future is very bright, excited to see what we’re going to do. We grew up a lot this year.”

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com

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SEABURY HALL (9-2)

Luca Connor 0, Zach Devane 0, Anthony Martin 0, James Judge 18, Kobe Garcia 6, Dylan Stolley 2, Leo McKuin 6, Noah Reisenhauer 0, Bromo Dorn 0, Elima Dagan 0.

MAUI PREP (9-0)

Drew Triplett 24, Jimmy Falk 9, Dylan Falk 7, Koenig Biegel 6, Levi Basurto 12, Emerson Flores 3, Chris Salem 2, Kai Godwin 1, Kai Shively 4.

Seabury Hall 5 13 2 12–32

Maui Prep 31 14 13 10–68

THIRD-PLACE GAME

LANAI 76, MOLOKAI 53

MOLOKAI (3-8)

Heath Lopez 0, Namaka Ross 5, Tanoa McKenzie-Faumai 4, Jonah Sahagun 6, Noah Nishihira 3, Owen Svetin 19, Kahakoi Lopez 0, Solomon Kikukawa-Teriong 0, Jericho Adolpho 14, Kolby Dudoit 0, Elijah Kadowaki 2.

LANAI (6-5)

Sam Dimaya III 11, Reese Etrata 5, Makaiah Alboro 9, Allen Adams 16, Ryan Noble 9, Jordan Belista 7, Renzy Manuel 10, Chase Connor 4, Robert Sarmiento 3, Kristian Kraytchev 2.

Molokai 8 16 15 14–53

Lanai 15 21 15 25–76