 Mililani, Leilehua advance to quarterfinals
Tournament schedule
By Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writer
Punahou coach Alan Lum couldn’t do anything about the bracketing for the Hawaiian Airlines State Boys Basketball Championships.
The only thing he and his team have any control over is how they perform on the court.
Alex Fergus scored 13 points and Richard Kim scored all 12 of his points in the second half as Punahou defeated Kahuku, 60-55, in a first-round game last night at McKinley High School.
Punahou, the fourth-ranked team in the HawaiiSportsNetwork.com poll, will play No. 1 and tournament top seed Kalaheo (13-0) at 7:30 tonight at McKinley.
St. Louis, which beat Waiakea, 54-39, in the earlier game, will play fourth-seeded Maui (15-2) at 6 tonight.
"The selection committee has got to do what they got to do," said Lum, whose team improved to 11-3. "I understand they have a difficult job. I told my kids only worry about what you can control. We couldn’t control the seedings, but we can control how we play."
Last night, Kim scored 10 points during a 12-4 run over the first 2:50 of the third quarter as Punahou went up 36-32. During the rally, Kim hit two 3-pointers and converted two layups after making steals.
"I knew I had to just keep shooting," Kim said. "I knew they would fall for me if I take smart, open shots. Because of my defense, I got layups and that got me started."
Kahuku (9-6) fell behind 41-34 with 2:36 remaining in the third quarter, but tied the score at 45 on a field goal by Inoke Funaki 20 seconds into the fourth quarter.
The Buffanblu went on a 9-2 run to go up 54-47 with 4:55 remaining in the game. Kahuku couldn’t get closer than three points the rest of the way.
"It was a good job on their part in the second half," Kahuku coach Nathan James said. "Our guys weren’t rebounding well and executing the half-court offense."
Red Raiders center Micah Casey picked up his fourth foul three minutes into the second half, and scored his only points on a field goal with 1:20 remaining in the game.
"We really wanted to stop him," Lum said. "We fronted him and had weak side help on him. He got a couple of quick fouls and had to play a different style of ball."
Kahuku and Waiakea will play in a consolation game tomorrow at noon at the Stan Sheriff Center.
PUNAHOU 9 15 21 15 — 60
KAHUKU 14 14 14 13 — 55
PUNAHOU-Kynan Pang 6, Richard Kim 12, Daniel Lam 0, Andrew Amigleo 8, Jason Ching 0, John Freese 0, Alex Fergus 13, David Dowsett 0, David Kowen 5, Lucas Love 5, Ryan Zabriskie 7, Dane Uperesa 4.
KAHUKU-Trumaine Oto 0, Ferron Fonoimoana , Philip Alisa 8, Aaron Francisco 17, Anthony Hill 4, Inoke Funaki 8, Micah Casey 2, James Kammerer 4, Nahi Smith, Adonis Buttel 4, Tala Esera 0, Jonathan Mapu 8, Quin Ah You.
3-point goals-Punahou 4 (Kim 2, Kowen 1, Amigleo 1). Kahuku 4 (Alisa 2, Funaki 2).
 St. Louis 54, Waiakea 39: St. Louis, with six football players on its roster, physically wore down Waiakea in the first half, and dominated the second half en route to a first-round victory.
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| St. Louis defenders (in blue) collapse on Waiakea's Levi Naehu as he tries to control the ball in the fourth quarter.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser |
Justin Harris scored 17 points, Frank Rivers 12 and Jason Rivers 11 last night at McKinley High School gym as St. Louis advanced to tonight’s quarterfinals.
The Crusaders used a full-court press and a man-to-man defense to force 27 turnovers.
"That’s our strength right now, pressure on the ball," St. Louis coach Delbert Tengan said. "We create turnovers and try to get easy baskets off that."
St. Louis went on a decisive 13-2 run over the final 5:30 of the third quarter to take a 36-27 lead. The Warriors committed 12 turnovers in the quarter.
"Their physical play wore us down, and when you get tired, you make mistakes," Waiakea assistant coach Don Kansako said.
The Crusaders played most of the third quarter without the Rivers brothers.
Frank Rivers picked up his fourth personal foul with 5:26 remaining in the third. Jason Rivers picked up his third foul 2:30 later. Both players didn’t return for the remainder of the quarter.
"We talked about everybody contributing," Tengan said. "Everyone who suits up, we expect to contribute."
The Crusaders went on an 18-8 run over the first 6:45 of the fourth quarter to take their largest lead at 54-35. St. Louis made all five of its field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter.
Waiakea stayed in a 2-3 zone for most of the game, before going to a man-to-man late.
"They told us they weren’t a very good outside shooting team," Kansako said.
Kelii Pomroy led Waiakea with 10 points.
WAIAKEA 9 12 6 12 — 39
ST. LOUIS 14 7 15 18 — 54
WAIAKEA-Branden Kawazoe 3, Abraham Costa 4, Evan Bartholomew 2, Kevin Takayama 4, Jomo Young 8, Martin Hall 8, Kelii Pomroy 10, Levi Naehu 0, Aaron Tengan 0, David Hotnianasky 0, Chase Sakamoto 0, Levi Bartholomew 0, Jason Agliam 0, Matt Hall 0.
ST. LOUIS-Bobby Tappy 2, Jose Vidad 5, Justin Harris 17, Jonah Lakatani 3, J.P. Kanoa 4, Jason Rivers 11, Frank Rivers 12, Brenden Clement 0, T.J. Moe 0, Arist de Wolff 0.
3-point goals-Waiakea 2 (Kawazoe, Takayama). St.Louis 2 (J. Rivers, Jose Vidad).
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