Basketball powers Kalaheo, Iolani far from being finished products

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

On paper, Saturday's championship game of the James Alegre Invitational between Kalaheo and Iolani looked to be a sneak preview of the boys basketball state final.

But it behooves fans not to use Kalaheo's 71-61 victory as an accurate barometer of how these two teams will fare come late February.

First, all-state guard Derrick Low of Iolani arrived late at Radford's gym because of another school function that evening and played only the last two minutes and 56 seconds. He scored five points and made one assist in that short span.

The Raiders (5-1) also were without reserve guard Robert Mageo, who did not suit up because of a sprained ankle. And Iolani guard Bobby Webster was not at full strength, having missed the previous two games with the flu.

Kalaheo (6-0) also was missing a key player, Justin Pedrina, due to illness.

Finally, Iolani forward Bobby Nash played only three minutes in the first half after picking up two fouls trying to guard the Mustangs' DC Daniels.

In short, this was not your typical Kalaheo-Iolani showdown.

Still, the game provided a lot of insight and entertainment. Kalaheo showed off a good shooting touch in the first half, jumping to a 38-17 lead in the first two periods. The sharpest shooters were 6-foot-6 forward Ikaika Alama-Francis (15 points), 5-10 guard Michael Gayle (10 points) and 6-3 wing Daniels (9 points).

"One thing we learned is that if we play them again, we'll have to watch out for Gayle," Iolani coach Mark Mugiishi said. "He's a good shooter."

Kalaheo coach Pete Smith said Gayle, who finished with 17 points, "has got the green light" to shoot.

The Raiders, meanwhile, showed they can make a comeback without Low. They trailed 53-33 going into the fourth quarter, but stepped up the pressure on defense and trimmed the deficit to 57-51 with 2:56 remaining, when Low finally came through the gym's back door and checked in at the scorer's table.

But again, both coaches cautioned against reading too much into the game.

"We tried to rotate everybody, so most of them were not playing their true positions," Mugiishi said.

Said Smith: "This was a preseason game, so we used other people. We've still got a long way to go."

IOLANI 9 8 16 28 — 61
KALAHEO 19 19 15 18 — 71

IOLANI — Jon Grobe 2 0-0 4, Derrick Low 2 1-3 5, Zach Tollefson 3 0-0 8, Bobby Webster 2 2-3 6, Matt Choy 0 0-0 0, Bobby Nash 3-3-4 10, Joe Udell 3 5-5 11, Chad Miller 0 0-0 0, Gage Eberlin 0 0-0 0, Todd Blankenship 1 0-0 2, Tyler McCready 6 3-5 15. Totals 22 14-20 61.

KALAHEO — Charles Elliott 0 0-0 0, Michael Gayle 7 0-0 17, James Robertson 1 3-4 5, Shaine Harada 0 0-2 0, Ikaika Alama-Francis 8 8-10 26, Zane Cabral 0 1-2 1, Neil Bowers 0 0-1 0, DC Daniels 3 7-8 13, Mike Garcia 2 2-2 6, Sam Wilholt 1 1-2 3. Totals 22 22-31 71.

3-point goals — Kalaheo 5 (Gayle 3, Alama-Francis 2). Iolani 3 (Tollefson 2, Nash 1).