Resilient Kaimuki, Kamehameha win
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Kaimuki High School boys basketball team, fresh off a 25-point loss to Castle in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association third-place game, pulled off the biggest upset in the state tournament's first round last night by stunning Punahou, 61-47, at Radford's gym.
The unseeded Bulldogs (10-4) will play No. 3 seed Lahainaluna (13-1) in a quarterfinal tonight at 6. Punahou, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu runner-up and ranked No. 4 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll, fell to 9-4 and into the consolation bracket.
"This is tough for us, because we had high expectations," Buffanblu coach Greg Tacon said. "But the better team won tonight."
Kaimuki proved that almost from the beginning. After spotting Punahou a 5-0 lead, the Bulldogs outscored the Buffanblu 10-4 the rest of the first period, including two 3-pointers by Jesse Wong that gave Kaimuki a 10-9 lead.
The Bulldogs never trailed thereafter. Kaimuki led 22-12 at the half and was up 46-28 with five minutes remaining in the game.
Punahou was outscored 12-3 in the second period, its only field goal coming on Dane Uperesa's layup with 12 seconds left. That cut the Bulldogs' lead to 20-12, but Daniel Tautofi's layup at the buzzer gave Kaimuki a 22-12 edge.
Tautofi finished with a game-high 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Wong added 13 points.
"Our inability to get any shots in the second quarter really hurt us," Tacon said. "In the second half, we thought we needed to be more aggressive on offense, but that also made things more chaotic. When people zone us, it changes us."
The Buffanblu's leading scorers, Uperesa and Kynan Pang, each finished with 10 points. All but six points came in the second half.
Kaimuki coach Stephen Lee said after the 61-36 loss to Castle last Friday, he challenged his team to play better.
"We came in today and we wanted to prove that Kaimuki going to states is not a fluke," Tautofi said.
• Kamehameha 30, Kealakehe 28: Coming off a Big Island season full of big upsets, Kealakehe (11-5) fell just short of another one last night.
Kamehameha, ranked No. 6 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll, held off the Waveriders in first-round action at Radford gym. Kealakehe had a chance to tie or win with 15 seconds remaining, but the Warriors' Eric Shaver made a steal in the backcourt with five seconds left.
"This was a good matchup; we were lucky to win," Kamehameha coach Darryl Gabriel said. "We didn't know anything about them coming in, but they're a lot more disciplined than we thought they'd be. I was truly impressed with how well they executed and ran their stuff."
Both teams showed patience in deliberate offenses, keeping shot attempts to a minimum. The Waveriders led 13-8 early in the second period, but the Warriors (10-5) tied it with 3:02 left in the half on Nalu Perkins' free throw.
The game remained tight the rest of the way, with neither team leading by more than three points.
Kamehameha, the third-place team in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, took the lead for good at 26-25 on Perkins' steal and layup with 4:15 remaining.
Willie Melemai's layup with 50 seconds left gave the Warriors a 30-27 lead, and Travis Akuna hit a free throw with 33 seconds remaining to help Kealakehe pull within two, but the Waveriders could not score after a missed Kamehameha free throw.
Melemai led the Warriors with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Ely Slather scored 13 points to lead Kealakehe, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation runner-up.
