Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.), USA Today's No. 1-ranked high school boys basketball team, fell to No. 21 Fairfax (Los Angeles), 39-38, last night in the championship game of the 22nd Annual Iolani Prep Classic.

Matthew Shaw converted both ends of a one-and-one free-throw opportunity with 45 seconds remaining to put Fairfax up 39-37, and the Mustangs' Greivis Vasquez made a free throw with six ticks left to close it to one point. But Vasquez's second attempt was short, and Fairfax's Gilroy Hemsley grabbed the rebound and was quickly fouled.

Hemsley missed both free-throw attempts with four seconds remaining, and Montrose Christian advanced the ball to halfcourt and called a timeout with 1.2 ticks left. But with the Iolani Gym crowd of about 950 on its feet, Kevin Durant's 25-footer from beyond the top of the key fell way short at the buzzer.

The victory gave Fairfax its third Classic title in five years.

"It feels real good, especially to beat the No. 1 team in the nation," said Lions guard Jerren Shipp, who finished with 17 points and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. "We said before the game that we were going to win it for Ja'Shon (Hampton)."

Hampton, a starting guard for Fairfax, suffered a concussion after diving for a loose ball late in Wednesday's semifinal victory over No. 14 Mount Vernon (N.Y.). He watched last night's game from the bench.

The Lions also overcame a 7-1 deficit to start the game and an ankle injury to forward Chace Stanback early in the second half.

"These guys really gutted it out tonight," Fairfax coach Harvey Kitani said. "They showed a lot of heart and character, and that's what we're going to need to build on for the rest of the season."

Durant, a 6-foot-10 forward regarded by some as the best player in the nation, gave the Mustangs a 7-1 lead by swishing a 3-pointer, slamming home a putback and then throwing down an alley-oop pass. But the Lions stormed back, and Shipp ended the first period with a short jumper, a 3-point bank shot and then another banker at the buzzer to put Fairfax up 16-11.

The Lions took a 23-20 lead into halftime, then built it to 31-22 by holding Montrose Christian to one basket in the third quarter.

"I think they were doing their best to slow the game down and they did a good job of setting the tempo," Mustangs coach Stu Vetter said. "Harvey does a great job with that program and they are a very difficult team to prepare for."

Montrose Christian rallied in the final period and tied it 35-35 on Durant's 3-pointer with 2:42 remaining and again at 37-37 on Adrian Bowie's steal and layup.

Durant, who finished with 20 points and seven rebounds, was named the tourney's Most Outstanding Player.

FAIRFAX 16 7 8 8—39

MONTROSE 11 9 2 16—38

Fairfax—Rod Singleton 5, Donovan White 3, Chace Stanback 5, Matthew Shaw 9, Jerren Shipp 17, Chris Solomon 0, Gilroy Hemsley 0, Malcolm Campbell 0.

Montrose—Adrian Bowie 6, Kevin Durrant 20, Ben Thomas 4, Greivis Vasquez 8, Taishi Ito 0, Troy Brewer 0, Terrell Vinson 0.

3-pointers: Fairfax 5 (Shipp 2, Singleton, White, Stanback). Montrose 5 (Durant 4, Vasquez).

OTHER GAMES

Arlington Country Day (Jacksonville, Fla.) 60, Mount Vernon (N.Y.) 56. ACD—Devon Lamb 19, Jason Bennett 13, A.J. Stewart 12. MV—Jonathan Mitchell 31. Arlington Country Day finishes third.

Mountain View (Mesa, Ariz.) 51, Urspring (Ulm, Germany) 35. MV—Kendall Wallace 25. Urs—Nicolai Simon 11. Mountain View finishes fifth.

Palm Beach Lakes (Palm Beach, Fla.) 51, Iolani 33. PBL—Corey Claitt 19, Steve Toyloy 17. Iol-Kawika Shoji 14. Palm Beach Lakes finishes seventh.

Punahou 49, Kahuku 43. Pun—Miah Ostrowski 15, Spencer McLachlin 15. Kah—Okesene Ale 22. Punahou wins consolation championship.

Maryknoll 47, Nanakuli 32. Mar—Tyler Tsukazaki 20, Travis Liu 15, Tommy Nguyen 10. Nan—Levi Luavasa 10.

Kalaheo 57, Kohala 39. Kal—Clifton Pires 18. Koh—Ikaika Kahoopii 11.

Leilehua 47, Damien 42. Lei—Clayton Laurel 15. Dam—Matt Gochenouer 10, Mike Sipili 10.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.