Kamehameha topples Kalaheo in OT, 60-55
• Boys Basketball Championship
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| Kamehameha's Caleb Spencer slips through the Kalaheo defense for two of his team-high 17 points. Spencer helped the Warriors rally from a late 9-point deficit.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser |
The Warriors (14-4) will play Interscholastic League of Honolulu rival and No. 1 seed Iolani (15-0) in tonight's 8:30 feature game at Blaisdell Arena.
No. 2 Maui (15-0) meets unseeded ILH runner-up Saint Louis (13-3) in the other semifinal at 7.
Kamehameha finished third in the ILH, but showed the Blaisdell crowd of 2,097 last night that they belong among Hawai'i's elite.
"Our seniors always thought we were one of the top four teams in the state," Warriors coach Darryl Gabriel said. "The growth they've had since the beginning of the season and the way they performed at the end tonight ... I'm proud of them."
It took a monumental effort to get past a young but greatly improved Mustangs squad (11-4) that entered with a six-game win streak. Kalaheo jumped to a 17-4 lead in the first six minutes and withstood a second-period rally by Kamehameha to take a 28-23 advantage into halftime.
Caleb Spencer's layup cut the Mustangs' lead to 28-25 to start the third period, but Theo Fujita answered with a 3-pointer and Kalaheo maintained at least a five-point advantage until late in the final quarter.
Point guard Zane Cabral, a stocky 5-foot-7 senior, scored seven points in the third period by slashing to the basket for short jumpers or to draw the foul.
"He's a quick player and he uses his body well," Gabriel said. "He's smart, and he gave us a ton of trouble with his quickness."
Cabral finished with 12 points — all after halftime — despite fighting the flu all week.
"Today was his first day back at school," Mustangs coach Pete Smith said. "We had five guys out with the flu this week, and Zane was hurt the worst. He sucked it up and played tough tonight."
Fujita sank a free throw with 3:10 remaining to put Kalaheo up 50-41. That's when the Warriors started to climb back, as Aaron Kahaloa's free throws started an 11-0 run. Kahaloa's 3-pointer from the top of the key gave Kamehameha its first lead at 51-50 with 1:19 left, and Radford Hepa's free throw put the Warriors up 52-50 with 25 seconds remaining.
Kahaloa scored 11 of his 14 points in the fourth period, including three 3-pointers.
"I wanted to (spark the comeback) because this is our time," said Kahaloa, a senior. "I was the one to make the big shots tonight, but whoever is on that night, whoever is getting the open looks will knock it down because we believe in each other."
Sam Wilhoite, who finished with a game-high 21 points and seven rebounds, tied the score on a layup with 12 seconds left. Kamehameha then worked the ball downcourt, but Spencer's fadeway from the baseline as time expired glanced off the rim, sending the game into overtime.
In the extra period, Spencer's layup and Hepa's free throws gave the Warriors a quick 56-52 lead, but Kalaheo closed to 56-55 on Cabral's free throw with 31 seconds remaining. Eric Shaver then hit two free throws and Hepa sank two more to seal it.
Spencer, a 6-1 senior guard, finished with a team-high 17 points and grabbed four rebounds. But 6-4 forward Waika Spencer fouled out with 5:07 left in regulation and 6-6 center Willie Melemai also was saddled with foul trouble. They combined for only 12 points and eight rebounds.
"I think we were lucky to win," Gabriel said. "We made some shots at the end, but Pete Smith's team deserved it, too. They're as good as we are, I'll tell you that."
• • •
WHAT: Hawaiian Airlines Boys Basketball Championship
WHEN: Wednesday-Saturday
WHERE: Blaisdell Arena
TICKETS: $7 adults, $5 students (kindergarten through 12th grade). Blaisdell Arena adds a 50-cent surcharge for each ticket.
PARKING: $3
TV: Tomorrow's championship game, 8 p.m., OC-16
SCHEDULE
Yesterday
Consolation
- Waiakea 86, Mililani 80
Quarterfinals
- Saint Louis 73, Kea'au 36
- Maui 68, Leilehua 49
- Iolani 78, Baldwin 50
- Kamehameha 60, Kalaheo 55, OT
Today
- Game 10 — Waimea (8-1) vs. Kaimuki (11-3), 1:45 p.m.
- Game 11 — Baldwin (11-5) vs. Kalaheo (11-4), 3:30 p.m.
- Game 12 — Kea'au (13-1) vs. Leilehua (12-3), 5:15 p.m.
Semifinals
- Game 13 — Saint Louis (13-3) vs. Maui (15-0), 7 p.m.
- Game 14 — Iolani (15-0) vs. Kamehameha (14-4), 8:30 p.m.
Tomorrow
- Game 15 — Waiakea (10-5) vs. Winner of Game 10, 3 p.m.
- Game 16 — Winners of Games 11 & 12, 4:30 p.m.
Third place
- Game 17 — Losers of Games 13 & 14, 6 p.m.
Championship
- Game 18 — Winners of Games 13 & 14, 8 p.m.
YESTERDAY'S BOXES
Quarterfinals
Saint Louis 20 21 19 13—73
Kea'au 11 9 7 9—36
SAINT LOUIS—Desmond Hanohano 4-7 0-1 8, Timo Paepule 4-5 2-5 10, Keao Monteilh 0-0 2-2 2, Jonah Lakatani 2-6 2-5 6, Jason Rivers 6-8 3-4 15, B.J. Batts 0-7 3-4 3, Douglas Adachi 3-3 0-0 7, Ryan Brilhante 0-1 0-0 0, Tavita Thompson 4-6 1-5 9, Brandon Va'a 0-2 0-0 0, Wilson Afoa 4-9 5-8 13. Totals 27 18-34 73.
KEA'AU—Josh Cabreros 3-8 4-8 10, Aukai Wong 4-10 0-0 11, Rolan Benevides 1-8 0-0 3, Kai Calip 0-1 0-0 0, Sunny Amisone 0-6 2-3 2, Jordan Dean 0-0 2-2 2, Matt Cadaoas 0-4 0-0 0, Anthony Alonzo 0-0 0-0 0, Ikaika Leslie 0-1 0-0 0, Jordan Cabreros 2-3 0-0 4, Paul Rapoza 0-1 0-0 0, Wade Ishibashi Jr. 0-0 0-0 0, Ken Harris 0-3 4-6 4, Austin Meyers 0-0 0-0 0, Eric Ulep 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 10 12-21 36.
3-point goals—St. Louis 1 (Adachi). Kea'au 4 (Wong 3, Benevides 1).
Leilehua 12 15 9 13—49
Maui 17 22 16 13—68
Leilehua—Andrew Talaeai 3-7 3-4 11, Zacarias Rivera 1-5 0-0 2, Jonathan Scruggs 1-2 0-0 2, Demetrius Washington 5-9 0-0 10, Angel Fontanez 0-1 0-0 0, Tyrell Couch 1-6 0-0 2, Angelo Massey 7-16 0-1 14, Antonio Carter 1-2 2-2 4, Anthony Hall 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 21 5-7 49.
Maui—Maafu Finau 9-11 8-13 26, Gene Rivera 6-6 3-4 15, Tevita Finau 6-8 0-2 12, Van Komatsu 0-0 0-0 0, Efren Oasay 3-7 4-4 11, Robinson Agdinoay 0-3 0-0 0, Dane Patao 0-0 0-0 0, Kynan Metoyer 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 26 15-23 68.
3-point goals—Leilehua 2 (Talaeai 2). Maui 1 (Oasay).
Baldwin 10 11 16 13—50
Iolani 22 21 17 18—78
Baldwin—Akamu Aki 0-5 1-2 1, Trenson Himalaya 5-9 1-2 11, Cody Nakamura 6-10 3-5 15, Rodney Kekahuna 1-1 0-0 2, Nick Heyd 2-6 0-0 4, Matt Heyd 0-1 0-0 0, Cody Tesoro 2-3 6-6 10, Donnie Dadiz 1-1 2-2 5, Jordan Kamikawa 0-1 0-2 0, Sherwin Mina 0-0 0-0 0, Roy Antolin 1-1 0-0 2, Scott Lafey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18 13-19 50.
Iolani—Sean Carney 1-1 0-0 2, Robert Nash 5-12 5-7 16, Todd Blankenship 0-2 2-2 2, Derrick Low 6-12 4-4 17, Ryan Hirata 4-7 1-3 11, Vincent Nip 0-0 0-0 0, Jon Yasuda 1-1 2-2 4, Zachary Tollefson 6-7 0-0 13, Kyle Pape 1-3 0-0 3, Robert Mageo 0-2 0-0 0, Matt Choy 0-1 1-2 1, Chad Miller 0-1 3-6 3, Robert Eberlin 1-2 4-9 6. Totals 25 22-34 78.
3-point goals—Baldwin 1 (Dadiz). Iolani 6 (Hirata 2, Tollefson 1, Pape 1, Nash 1, Low 1).
Kamehameha 9 14 10 19 8—60
Kalaheo 19 9 12 12 3—55
Kamehameha—Waika Spencer 3-4 0-0 10, Willie Melemai 1-4 0-0 2, Eric Shaver 2-6 2-5 6, Caleb Spencer 7-13 2-4 17, Aaron Kahaloa 4-8 2-2 14, Galen Santana 1-3 0-0 3, Radford Hepa 1-6 5-8 8, Ioane Spencer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19 15-24 60.
Kalaheo—David Moore 1-3 0-0 2, Jeremy Neufeldt 3-3 1-3 7, Sam Wilhoite 8-10 5-7 21, Theo Fujita 5-10 1-2 13, Zane Cabral 3-6 6-8 12, Aaron Luis 0-0 0-0 0, Matthew Nakashima 0-0 0-1 0, William Elliot 0-2 0-0 0, Neil Bowers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20 13-21 55.
3-point goals—Kamehameha 7 (Kahaloa 4, C. Spencer 1, Santana 1, Hepa 1). Kalaheo 2 (Fujita).
Consolation
Waiakea 86, Mililani 80 (2 OTs): Levi Bartholomew scored 42 points and grabbed 20 rebounds as Waiakea (10-5) of the BIIF outlasted Mililani (9-7) of the OIA.
Bartholomew, the son of Warriors' coach Jay Bartholomew, hit 14 of 22 field-goal attempts and 13 of 17 free throws. He was 1 of 3 from 3-point range.
WAIAKEA 19 14 14 13 12 14—86
MILILANI 16 15 18 11 12 8—80
WAIAKEA—Levi Bartholomew 14-22 13-17 42, Abraham McGrew 4-6 3-5 11, Tyler Nishimura 1-10 5-6 8, Sean Soriano 2-12 0-2 4, Ronnie Loeffler 2-5 5-7 9, Kyle Correira 0-3 1-2 1, Michael Belmes 1-3 0-0 2, Cody Aragaki 0-2 0-0 0, Cheynne Hirota 1-3 1-2 3, David Doll 2-2 0-0 0 4, Justin Pascual 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Santos 1-1 0-0 2. 28 28-41 86
MILILANI—Jordan Woolsey 2-9 0-0 6, Clarence Gray 0-3 1-2 1, Andrew Tokumi 6-13 0-0 13, Zac Anduha 1-2 0-0 3, Brandyn Fidel 4-15 3-5 12, Aaron Kanno 6-13 0-0 14, Puna Neumann 4-8 2-2 10, Scott Neumann 1-4 0-0 2, Scott Duvachelle 0-0 0-0 0, Tony Gabriel 3-5 3-6 9, Mikhail Mabry 4-9 2-2 10. Totals 31 11-17 80.
3-point goals—Waiakea 2 (Bartholomew, Nishimura). Mililani 7 (Woolsey 2, Kanno 2, Tokumi 1, Anduha 1, Fidel 1).
