Castle, Mililani advance to quarterfinals

By Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writer

Things didn't look too good for Castle's Ryen Isip leading up to last night's state boys basketball game against Baldwin.

Castle's Charles Teixeira, left, grabs a rebound against Baldwin in a first-round game of the state boys basketball tournament. Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser

Then last night's game began and he looked better than ever.

Isip scored 22 points, including three 3-pointers, as Castle held off Baldwin, 70-60, in a Hawaiian Airlines Boys State Basketball Championship Tournament game at Kekuhaupi'o Gym on the Kamehameha Schools campus.

"He came out and he was ready to play," Castle coach Rocky Fraticelli said. "He's been kind of sore the past few days. He got a charlie horse in our last game. He didn't practice yesterday and today he felt more loose."

Castle (11-4) made 5-of-6 3-point attempts in the first half, and took a 35-12 lead with a little under two minutes left before halftime.

The Knights used 1-2-2 and 2-3 zones in the first half to force nine turnovers and hold the Bears to 6-of-19 shooting. At one point, Baldwin went 9:15 without a field goal.

"The match-up zone gave us some problems in the beginning," Baldwin coach Wayne Gushiken said. "Our kids looked confused out there."

Baldwin, of the Maui Interscholastic League, started the game in a 1-2-2 zone that was ineffective against the Knights.

"We came out tentative," Gushiken said. "We played a laid-back defense because we didn't know what to expect."

The Bears went to a man-to-man defense late in the second quarter and stayed with it the rest of the game.

"That's the tempo we are more accustomed to," Gushiken said. "Maybe we should have done that in the beginning."

Baldwin (10-4) outscored Castle 20-8 in the third period and was down 47-38 heading into the final period. The Bears couldn't get closer than seven in the fourth period.

Castle made 31 of 40 free-throw attempts, compared to 16-of-26 for Baldwin.

• Mililani 61, Waimea 45: The Trojans (13-1) used a 19-4 run in the second period to beat the Menehune (7-3) and advance to the quarterfinals.

"Luckily, we got on a run, some people were hot," Mililani coach Mike Coito said.

Rashaun Broadus scored 16 points and Gary Deliz 10 to lead Mililani of the OIA.

The Trojans held a 31-11 lead at halftime, but the Menehune, of the Kaua'i Interscholastic Federation, cut their deficit to 45-35 with 5:40 remaining in the game. Mililani responded with a 6-0 run over the next minute to go up by 16.

"Waimea is not the type of team you can ever relax on," Coito said. "We had to fight, we had to use our starters longer than I thought we would. They didn't come all the way from Kaua'i to roll over."

Jordan Dizon led Waimea with 27 points.