Smith's Kalaheo team in states for 20th year in row

By Dennis Anderson and Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writers

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OIA Basketball Tournament First round Thursday's results at Castle Mililani 42, Kahuku 41 Castle 45, 'Aiea 30 at Pearl City Kalaheo 65, Kapolei 56 Moanalua 56, Pearl City 53 Quarterfinals Yesterday's results at Radford Kaimuki 67, Moanalua 64, 4 OTs Kalaheo 46, Radford 34 at Roosevelt Leilehua 37, Castle 36 Mililani 52, Roosevelt 49 Semifinals Wednesday's games At Leilehua 6:30 p.m. — Leilehua (10-1) vs. Mililani (9-3) At Kaimuki 6:30 p.m. — Kaimuki (10-1) vs. Kalaheo (9-3) Friday games at Blaisdell Arena 5 p.m. — Third place: Semifinal losers 7 p.m. — Championship: Semifinal winners Admission: $6 for general, $3 for students with OIA activity books or 8th grade and under.

Kalaheo smothered Western Division champion Radford, 46-34, with an aggressive defense, and Mililani upset Eastern Division champion Roosevelt, 52-49, in quarterfinals of the OIA Championship Tournament.

In last night's other quarterfinal games, Daniel Tautofi scored 37 points to carry Kaimuki to a four-overtime victory over Moanalua, 67-64, and Leilehua edged Castle, 37-36.

Last night's winners earned the OIA's four berths in the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association championship tournament Feb. 26-March 1 at Blaisdell Arena. The four losers are finished, even though Radford and Roosevelt had a combined record of 19-1 in the OIA's regular season.

Kalaheo 46, Radford 34: Coach Pete Smith devised an aggressive defense that held Western Division scoring champion Charles Seanior to six points — almost 11 below his average.

"We knew we had to stop Seanior to win," said Smith, whose team finished in fourth place in the Eastern Division. "We alternated (sophomore) David Moore and (junior) Matthew Nakashima, so we always had fresh legs on him."

Kalaheo, usually a pressing team, played half-court man-to-man defense for the first time this season.

"Our plan was to make them work for everything they got," Smith said. Radford didn't get much — the Rams finished 23 points below their season average and made only one basket in the crucial fourth quarter. The final score was Kalaheo's biggest lead.

Zane Cabral got inside Radford's defense to score a game-high 13 points. Kalaheo's 6-7 Samuel Wilhoite aggressively led his team's rebounding and scored nine points.

Martin Lara scored 11 points and Tauran Moore 10 for Radford.

Kalaheo (9-3) 10 9 12 15—46
Radford (10-1) 8 6 13 7—34

KALAHEO—Aaron Luis 0, Chris Tumaneng 0, Nick Heldreth 0, Matt Nakashima 1, Theo Fujita 7, Will Elliot 1, Zane Cabral 13, Neal Bowers 2, Josh Perry 0, David Moore 6, Jeremy Neufeldt 7, Ryan Belles 0, Sam Wilhoite 9. Totals 12 21-28 46.

RADFORD—Will Kerins 0, Jordan Rellin 0, Mike Davis 4, Joshua Auelua 0, Charles Seanior 6, Richardo Shipley 0, Martin Lara 11, Tauran Moore 10, Jason Opetaia 0, Daniel Downs 0, La Micheal-Wilkins 3. Totals 10 12-18 34.

3-point goals—Kalaheo 1 (Fujita). Radford 2 (Seanior, Moore).

Kaimuki 67, Moanalua 64 (4 overtimes): Daniel Tautofi's spectacular three-point play with 1:40 left in the fourth overtime put the Bulldogs ahead 66-64.

He stole the ball near his own basket, dribbled downcourt and around two defenders in the paint to make a layup. He was fouled while shooting and added the free throw.

Tautofi scored 32 of his 37 points in the second half and overtimes, including an even more spectacular drive to tie the score 52-52 with 8.6 seconds left in the first overtime.

On that play, he drove from the left side, dribbled the ball behind his back with defenders all around him, cut across the baseline and made a reverse layup.

His putback with 24 seconds left forced the third overtime at 56-56.

Tautofi is a 6-foot-2, 230-pound linebacker who signed with the University of Hawai'i on Feb. 5. In the second half last night, he usually played high post, cutting to the basket and taking precision passes from his teammates, especially Jr. Maiava and Isaiah Ano.

"We told him, 'David, we're going to go on your back,' " coach Stephen Lee said. "When it's crunch time, we always go to him. He knows what it takes to win."

Moanalua (7-5) 9 15 12 6 10 4 5 3—64
Kaimuki (10-1) 9 13 11 9 10 4 5 6—67

MOANALUA—Joseph Nishimura 6, Brian Bertulfo 2, Glenn Gascon 0, Jaimie Rego 6, Marquise Duvall 4, Chris Young 20, Darin-Jay Shinagawa 14, Eric Keys 12. Totals 23 13-15 64.

KAIMUKI—Davey Nyugen 0, Richy Miyasaka 1, Daniel Tautofi 37, Isaiah Ano 2, Jimmy Miyasaka 13, Jon Torres 0, Nick Milan 10, Junior Maiava 4. Totals 27 9-18 67.

3-point goals—Moanalua 5 (Young 2, Shinagawa 2, Nishimura 1). Kaimuki 4 (J. Miyasaka 3, Tautofi 1).

Leilehua 37, Castle 36: Zacarius Rivera sank a free throw with 2.9 seconds remaining to lift the Mules into the quarterfinals.

Rivera was fouled under the basket in a crowded lane while trying to put up a turnaround jumper. He missed the first free throw but swished the second.

Castle's ensuing inbounds pass was intercepted, and Leilehua was able to run out the clock. The Knights had missed the front end of a one-and-one with 15 seconds left.

Rivera, one of Leilehua's leading scorers during the regular season, finished with only three points on one field goal.

"Zac hasn't been himself the past couple days; I don't know why," Mules coach Keith Spencer said. "But he's been playing hard for us all season long, and he's a senior. I'm going to go down with my seniors."

Rivera's free throw ended a frantic second half in which the teams ran up and down the floor but neither led by more than four points.

Castle (9-3) 7 9 9 11—36
Leilehua (10-1) 10 11 6 10—37

CASTLE — Bryan Pelangka 4, Emmett "Doonie" Aberilla 6, William Harvest 5, Jordan Ukauka 0, Kurtis Kanekoa 8, Charles Teixeira 9, Antone Watanabe-Kuahuia 4. Totals 16 2-5 36.

LEILEHUA — Andrew Talaeai 10, Demetrius Washington 6, Tyrell Couch 2, Angelo Massey 7, Antonio Carter 0, Zacarius Rivera 3, Angel Fontanez 7, Jonathan Scruggs 2. Totals 15 3-7 37.

3-point goals—Castle 2 (Harvest, Pelangka). Leilehua 4 (Talaeai 2, Fontanez, Massey).

MILILANI 52, ROOSEVELT 49: Brandyn Fidel scored 15 points, including five clutch free throws in the fourth quarter, as the Trojans upset the East's top-seeded Rough Riders.

"We were down by two at the half, but knew there was still a lot of time left," Mililani coach Mike Coito said. "We had far less turnovers in the second half, and that made the difference in the game."

Daniel Balbas scored 18 and Anthony Holyfield 17 for Roosevelt.

Mililani (9-3) 9 10 14 19—52
Roosevelt (9-2) 8 13 12 16—49

MILILANI—Aaron Kanno 5, Puna Neumann 8, Brandyn Fidel 15, Jordan Woolsey 2, Clarence Gray 2, Andrew Tokumi 2, Alex Patykula 9, Tony Gabriel 3, Simeon Tavares 6, Mikhail Mabry 0. Totals 19 10-14 52.

ROOSEVELT—Shane Kamakura 4, Bryson Borges 6, Ryan Keomaka 4, Daniel Balbas 18, James Castro 0, Anthony Holyfield 17, Ricky Eusebio 0, Danton Balbas 0. Totals 16 15-24 49.

3-point goals—Mililani 4 (Fidel 2, Tavares 1, Kanno 1). Roosevelt 2 (Borges 1, Holyfield 1).