David Singleton swished a 21-foot 3-pointer from the right corner as time expired last night to lift the Salesian (Richmond, Calif.) High School boys basketball team to a thrilling 68-66 overtime victory over Punahou in the final of the Fifth Annual Punahou Holiday Classic.

Salesian (8-4) has been one of the Bay Area's top programs the past six years, finishing 23-7 last season after advancing to the North Coast Section Division IV (small schools) semifinals. Three years ago, the Chiefs went 24-8 and made it to the NorCal semifinals — equivalent to the Division IV state quarterfinals.

California has almost 1,000 basketball teams.

"I've played four years (on the varsity), and (Punahou) is probably in the top five of all the teams we've played," said Singleton, a 6-foot-1 guard. "Compared to the teams we play back home, they're in the top."

The Buffanblu (12-3) were 1.1 seconds away from sealing the victory last night, but forward Spencer McLachlin was called for traveling after falling to the floor on the Salesian baseline. The Chiefs' Kindell McCree made the first of two free throws to make it 66-65, Punahou, with 3.3 seconds remaining. But he missed the second attempt and McLachlin grabbed the rebound.

"I just wanted to hold onto the ball for 3.3 seconds, and I was pretty sure I did," said McLachlin, who was pressured by at least two defenders. "Unfortunately, I slipped."

Salesian point guard Drew Gipson, inbounding from the baseline, took about three seconds to find Singleton open after first checking options in the paint.

"The first option was in the post, and our coach wanted all these things going on in the middle (of the key) so I could get open in the corner," Singleton said. "A guy came out on me, but he was a little late."

Chiefs coach Bill Mellis said Singleton actually was the third option in the play he drew up during a timeout.

"It was only a one-point game, so we wanted to get something going to the basket," Mellis said. "But I thought (the Buffanblu) defended it well."

McLachlin said Salesian had tried a lob pass in the middle twice earlier, so that was what Punahou was guarding against.

"We packed everything in the paint, but (Singleton) saw the baseline open and ran to the corner," McLachlin said. "It was a smart play."

Buffanblu coach Greg Tacon said Singleton "just hit an amazing shot," and added his team had an opportunity to seal its own fate earlier.

"We had our chances to win it, if we knocked down some free throws and made some better decisions," Tacon said. "It was a fun game for everybody; they just made one more play than us."

Singleton's buzzer-beater was just the last of many that had the Hemmeter Fieldhouse crowd of about 850 gasping in a game that was tight and fast-paced from start to finish.

Punahou guard Miah Ostrowski, who finished with a game-high 24 points and five steals, swished a 12-foot jumper from the right baseline to give the Buffanblu a 66-64 lead with 46 seconds left.

After the Chiefs missed a shot on the ensuing possession, Punahou had a chance to go up by four but missed both ends of a double-bonus with 14.5 seconds. Salesian grabbed the rebound and eventually worked the ball into McCree, a 6-4 forward who finished with 12 points.

McCree was fouled near the basket.

In the final minute of regulation, the Buffanblu sank three consecutive 3-pointers to rally from a 57-51 deficit. After Ostrowski's 25-foot trey from beyond the top of the key cut it to 57-54, Gipson made a free throw to push the lead to 58-54 with 40 seconds left.

Fifteen seconds later, McLachlin made a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Singleton answered with two free throws to make it 60-57 with 21 ticks remaining, but Danny Cho tied it with a 20-footer from the right wing with seven seconds left.

"I thought (the Buffanblu) showed a lot of poise under pressure," said Mellis, who called Ostrowski "a hell of a player."

"They run a good offense, and I think both this team and the team we beat last night (Kamehameha) would be very good teams in our area. They're both tough, strong and shoot the ball well. There were no losers tonight; it was just a great game by both teams."

Gipson led the Chiefs with 15 points, and McLachlin finished with 14 points.

All-Tournament Team — Kanoa Mokiao (Kamehameha), Tristan Sealy (Campbell), Kealoha Kramer (Kamehameha-Hawai'i), Matt Heyd (Baldwin), Gary Satterwhite (Radford), Junior Ale (Kahuku), Kael Kristof (Mercer Island), Kindell McCree (Salesian), Spencer McLachlin (Punahou), Miah Ostrowski (Punahou). Mr Hustle Award — David Singleton (Salesian).

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.