Iolani, Kalaheo win handily
• Mustangs roll past Punahou
• Boys Basketball Championship
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| Iolani's Derrick Low attempts a shot, but is fouled by Mililani's Jovovan Santos in the second quarter.
Photos by Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser YESTERDAY Championship Semifinals Iolani 71 Mililani 45 Kalaheo 62 Punahou 43 TODAY Consolation Baldwin vs. McKinley, 3 p.m. Fifth place Kealakehe vs. Kamehameha, 4:30 p.m. Third place Mililani vs. Punahou, 6 p.m. Championship Iolani vs. Kalaheo, 8 p.m., OC-16 WHAT: Hawaiian Airlines Boys Basketball Championship WHEN: Today WHERE: Blaisdell Arena TICKETS (all day admission): $7.50 adults, $5.50 students (kindergarten through 12th grade). PARKING: $4 for those entering before 5 p.m. $5 for those entering after 5 p.m. |
Iolani will play Kalaheo for the HHSAA/Hawaiian Airlines Boys State Basketball Championship Tournament title tonight at 8.
The Trojans entered last night's game shooting better than 50 percent in two tournament games, but floundered to 36 percent (17 of 47) against Iolani.
"We knew they were a great shooting team," Iolani guard Ryan Hirata said. "We felt if we could pressure them a lot — get them out of their offense and get them out of their shot selection — may be their legs would get tired. I think that's what happened a little."
Iolani stretched its winning streak against Hawai'i opponents to 71 games, and today will try to become the first team to win three consecutive boys state basketball championships since Punahou, which accomplished the feat from 1979 to 1981.
Last night, Iolani led by as many as 19 points in the second quarter and 30 points in the fourth quarter.
Derrick Low, the state's two-time player of the year, finished with 12 points, seven assists and six rebounds in 20 minutes. Hirata scored a game-high 15 points in 16 minutes and Todd Blankenship added 12 points in 16 minutes. Mililani's Aaron Kanno scored a team-high 13 points and Alex Patykula added 10 points.
For the first time in this tournament, Mililani finished a game with more turnovers (21) than field goals (17).
"I think one word describes it — frustrating," Mililani guard Aaron Kanno said. "Their pressure was so good we really couldn't get into our offense. And once we did settle in, our shots weren't falling. It was sort of double trouble."
"No one plays defense like that," added Mililani coach Michael Coito. "They're all that they're cracked up to be."
Iolani took control of the game by pouncing on Mililani in the first quarter.
After falling behind 4-0, Iolani responded with a 19-0 run to end the first period. During the surge, Hirata scored seven points and Blankenship added six.
"After we got a lead, we threw away the ball about three straight times coming down and we let them back in," Coito said. "That was my worst nightmare falling back so much. We were rattled by their defensive pressure."
Iolani forced nine turnovers in the first eight minutes, and pressured Mililani into 1 of 9 shooting from the field.
Mililani ended the eight-minute scoreless drought on a basket by Clarence Gray in the second quarter to close to 19-6.
Iolani pushed its lead to 19 points twice in the second quarter at 31-12 and 33-14, and took a 35-18 lead into halftime. Mililani shot 30 percent (7 of 23) in the first half compared to Iolani's 50 percent (14 of 28).
"Our goal tonight was to make sure that every shot they took was contested," Iolani coach Mark Mugiishi said. "I thought we did a great job on putting defensive pressure on Mililani."
Iolani led 54-25 in the third quarter and increased its lead to 69-39 in the fourth quarter. The Raiders finished shooting 52 percent (27 of 52) from the field and made 12 steals.
— Brandon Masuoka, Advertiser staff writer
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| Kalaheo's Sam Wilhoite shoots over Punahou's Spencer McLachlin during the first quarter of their state semifinal game last night. |
The Mustangs (15-1) blew past Punahou in the fourth period last night en route to a 62-43 semifinal victory before a crowd of 3,170. They will meet Iolani (16-0) at 8 tonight for the title, the third time in four years the two juggernauts have faced off for the state crown.
Kalaheo defeated the Raiders, 71-61, in the finals of the Jimmy Alegre Classic on Dec. 8, 2001. Iolani has not lost to a Hawai'i opponent since — a streak of 71 games spanning three seasons.
The victories include a 58-57 state title win over the Mustangs in 2002 and two lopsided preseason victories over Kalaheo this past December. The Mustangs beat the Raiders, 68-60, in the 2001 state championship game.
"But I wasn't on that team," said Kalaheo center Sam Wilhoite, a senior who finished with a team-high 20 points, 13 rebounds and four assists last night. "I know what it's like to lose to them (in a state title game), but I don't know what it's like to win."
Thanks to the Mustangs' strong all-around performance last night, Wilhoite will get another shot tonight.
Punahou (14-3) stayed close for much of the game and trailed 39-34 to start the fourth period, but the Mustangs sprinted out to a 15-1 run to lead 54-35 with four minutes remaining.
"Chris (Tumaneng) and Matt (Nakashima) got some stops on defense, and that just started the flow for us," Wilhoite said. "Everybody just started hitting their shots."
Kalaheo actually took control midway through the second period, using an 11-0 run to take a 22-14 lead after Wilhoite's banker with 3:14 remaining. Punahou had gone up 14-11 on Brenton Lee's free throws, but was scoreless during the next 4 minutes and 37 seconds.
The Buffanblu finally broke the spell with Daniel Cho's free throw and closed to 22-18 on Jeremiah Ostrowski's 3-pointer with 2:16 left, but the Mustangs led 27-19 at intermission after another banker by Wilhoite and Theo Fujita's 3-pointer from the corner with 8 seconds remaining.
Wilhoite, who is 6 feet 7, had seven points and seven rebounds by halftime, and Fujita had nine points on three 3-pointers.
Ostrowski's 3-pointer was Punahou's only field goal in the final 12 minutes of the half; 12 of the Buffanblu's 19 points came from the free throw line. They were just 3 of 15 (20 percent) from the field.
"Sometimes, we didn't even get a shot off," Punahou coach Greg Tacon said. "Part of it was all the energy everyone expended whenever Sam got the ball. We don't have anyone to guard him one-on-one, so everybody had to help."
Punahou closed to 30-28 on Lee's layup midway through the third period, but Kalaheo immediately answered with Neil Bowers' 3-pointer and Wilhoite sank two free throws with 5 ticks left to give the Mustangs a 39-32 lead entering the fourth.
Through three quarters, the Buffanblu were 8 of 27 (29 percent) from the field, including 2 of 9 from 3-point range.
Ostrowski, a 5-9 freshman, finished with a game-high 22 points.
"And I thought we played tough on him," Kalaheo coach Chico Furtado said. "We knew he could shoot, but he took it to the rack on us. He's gonna be a great player."
Wilhoite, meanwhile, got plenty of offensive help from Fujita (17 points) and Bowers (nine). Five other Mustangs got into the scoring column, a big change from key games early in the season.
"We've come a long way, from losing to Punahou in double-digits to beating them in double digits." Wilhoite said. "(Iolani) beat us twice in the preseason, but we're all playing with a lot more confidence now. We're ready for tomorrow."
— Wes Nakama, Advertiser staff writer
• • •
WHAT: Hawaiian Airlines Boys Basketball Championship
WHEN: Ends today
WHERE: Blaisdell Arena
TICKETS (all day admission): $7.50 adults, $5.50 students (kindergarten through 12th grade).
PARKING: $4 for those entering before 5 p.m. $5 for those entering after 5 p.m.
TV: Championship game, 8 p.m., OC-16
Yesterday's games
Kealakehe 56, Kaimuki 39: Iaone Spencer scored 13 points and Kyle Teves and Jared Ursua each scored 12 points as the Waveriders outplayed the Bulldogs.
Kealakehe meets Kamehameha today for fifth place.
Jimmy Miyasaka scored a game-high 15 points for Kaimuki, the O'ahu Interscholastic Association's third-place team. Kealakehe, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion, forced 16 turnovers and shot 52 percent (25 of 48) for the game.
KEALAKEHE (16-1) 12 18 7 19—56
KAIMUKI (12-6) 7 17 4 11—39
KEALAKEHE—Aikane Pavitt 3-6 0-0 6, Kyle Teves 6-12 0-0 12, Iaone Spencer 6-8 1-1 13, Easton Takata 3-5 0-0 7, Jared Ursua 4-8 0-0 12, Dustin Esteban 0-0 0-0 0, Malkum Cachero-Wimbish 0-1 0-0 0, Cody Henriques 1-3 0-0 2, Loa Patao 1-3 0-0 2, Tyler Branson 0-1 0-0 0, Bo Montgomery 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 25-48 1-1 56.
KAIMUKI—Jimmy Miyasaka 5-12 1-4 15, Reginal Palfrey 0-0 2-2 2, Nick Milan 1-5 2-2 4, Dexter Tautofi 4-7 3-4 11, Davey Nguyen 0-3 0-0 0, Kekoa Onaga 1-7 0-0 3, Isaiah Ano 0-1 0-0 0, Keanu Lockwood 0-1 0-0 0, Tony Fa'asoa 1-3 2-2 4. Totals 12-39 10-14 39.
3-point goals—Kealakehe 5-8 (Ursua 4-5, Takata 1-2, Patao 0-1). Kaimuki 5-13 (Miyasaka 4-7, Onaga 1-4, Nguyen 0-1, Ano 0-1).
Kamehameha 53, Maui 44: Waika Spencer scored a game-high 20 points and the Warriors used a strong inside game to outmuscle the Sabers.
Kamehameha, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's third-place team, held a 33-24 rebounding advantage, and also made 11 of 15 free throws compared Maui's 2 of 7.
Ronald Belany scored a 13 points for the Sabers, the Maui Interscholastic League champion. Radford Hepa scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Warriors.
MAUI (12-2) 12 15 9 8—44
KAMEHAMEHA (12-7) 14 16 10 13—53
MAUI—Shaka Batson 2-3 0-0 4, Ryan Ishizu 2-6, 0-0 6, Anthony Parilla 2-5 0-0 4, Ronald Belany 6-13 0-0 13, Wilmar Bumanglag 2-5 2-4 7, Sean Curtis 2-9 0-0 4, Gene Rivera 2-4 0-3 4, Chris Kelly 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 19-49 2-7 44.
KAMEHAMEHA—Ikaika Hardie 1-4 0-0 2, Vance Wright 0-3 1-2 1, Rykin Enos 0-1 1-2 1, Jacob Ho 2-4 0-0 6, Quincy Crowell 0-2 0-0 0, Michael Nii 1-2 0-0 2, Jacob Bode 1-2 2-3 4, Waika Spencer 8-11 4-4 20, Kapono Kuikahi 0-1 0-0 0, Ernie Vidinha 1-2 1-2 3, Ikaika Shelton 0-0 0-0 0, Gabe Spencer 2-3 0-0 4, Radford Hepa 4-10 2-2 10. Totals 20-45 11-15 53.
3-point goals—Maui 4-19 (Ishizu 2-6, Bumanglag 1-2, Belany 1-7, Batson 0-1, Parilla 0-1, Curtis 0-1, Rivera 0-1). Kamehameha 2-7 (Ho 2-2, Hepa 0-2, Crowell 0-1, Hardie 0-1, Wright 0-1).
McKinley 66, WaiAkea 65: Abel Werner scored a team-high 16 points and the Tigers rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat the Warriors.
McKinley plays Baldwin for seventh place.
McKinley, the OIA's fourth-place team, trailed 52-49 entering the fourth quarter, but outscored Waiakea 17-13 in the final period.
McKinley's Robert Holder scored 14 points, Kapena Quisano 13, Joshua Valdez 12 and Iakopo Taumua added 11 points and 10 rebounds. Michael Belmes scored 16 points and Abe McGrew had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Waiakea, the BIIF runner-up.
WAIAKEA (12-5) 18 14 20 13—65
MCKINLEY (10-7) 23 13 13 17—66
WaiAkea—Kyle Correia 2-10 0-0 5, Cheynne Hirota 0-3 0-0 0, Tyler Nishimura 3-5 0-0 9, Michael Belmes 4-9 5-5 16, Abe McGrew 6-14 3-5 15, Kahanu Irizarry 2-4 0-0 4, Jon Moniz 4-9 0-0 10, Sean Soriano 0-0 0-0 0, David Doll 3-5 0-0 6, Justin Pascual 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Santos 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 24-62 8-10 65.
MCKINLEY—Mark Nakatsuka 0-0 0-0 0, Abel Werner 6-15 4-8 16, Iakopo Taumua 4-8 3-5 11, Robert Holder 3-10 5-8 14, Golden Lawrence 0-0 0-0 0, Joshua Valdez 4-13 1-2 12, Bobby Shimabukuro 0-0 0-0 0, Chris Quiocho 0-0 0-1 0, Kapena Quisano 4-9 4-4 13. Totals 21-55 17-28 66.
3-point goals—Waiakea 9-27 (Nishimura 3-5, Belmes 3-6, Moniz 2-6, Correia 1-5, Irizarry 0-2, Santos 0-3). McKinley 7-22 (Valdez 3-7, Holder 3-8, Quisano 1-5, Werner 0-2).
Semifinals
Mililani (14-2) 4 14 12 15—45
Iolani (16-0) 19 16 21 15—71
MILILANI—Lorenzo Abernathy 0-1 0-2 0, Puna Neumann 2-7 2-2 6, Scott Neumann 1-7 2-2 4, Aaron Kanno 5-10 0-0 13, Ryan Shular 0-0 0-0 0, Clarence Gray 1-3 1-2 3, Charles Richie 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Tokumi 2-3 0-0 4, Alex Patykula 4-10 1-3 10, Jonovan Santos 1-4, 0-0 3, Mikhail Mabry 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 17-47 6-11 45.
Iolani—Ryan Hirata 5-10 3-4 15, Vinny Nip 1-4 0-0 3, Todd Blankenship 6-7 0-0 12, Jon Yasuda 1-2 2-2 5, Derrick Low 4-7 2-3 12, Jon Takamura 1-3 0-0 2, Zach Tollefson 3-7 2-2 8, Kawika Shoji 1-2 0-0 2, Kyle Pape 3-5 0-0 6, Barry Kang 2-3 0-1 4, Sean Carney 0-2 2-3 2, Wes Eberlin 0-0 0-0 0, Brandon Young 0-0 0-0 0, James Street 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-52 11-15 71.
3-point goals—Mililani 5-10 (Kanno 3-6, Santos 1-1, Patykula 1-3). Iolani 6-16 (Low 2-3, Hirata 2-4, Nip 1-3, Yasuda 1-1, Tollefson 0-3, Shoji 0-1, Kang 0-1).
Rebounds—Mililani 27 (Santos 5), Iolani 33 (Low 6, Carney 6).
Assists—Mililani 3 (S. Neumann, Shular, Patykula), Iolani 17 (Low 7).
PUNAHOU (14-3) 10 9 13 11—43
KALAHEO (15-1) 11 16 12 23—62
PUNAHOU—Reid Fowler 1-3 0-0 2, Brenton Lee 2-7 3-4 7, Kasey Ko 1-7 2-2 4, Jeremiah Ostrowski 8-13 6-7 24, Scott Otake 0-3 2-3 2, Storm Bridgewater 0-2 0-0 0, Daniel Cho 0-1 2-4 2, Morgan Ellsworth 0-1 0-0 0, Kaohu Berg-Hee 1-1 0-0 2, Spencer McLachlin 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 13-40 15-20 43.
KALAHEO—Neil Bowers 3-6 2-4 9, Sam Wilhoite 7-11 6-6 20, Matt Nakashima 0-4 3-4 3, Theo Fujita 6-12 2-3 17, William Elliott 3-7 0-0 8, Chris Tumaneng 0-0 2-2 2, Kahua Hollinger 0-1 0-0 0, David Moore 0-0 1-2 1, Daniel Phair 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 20-42 16-21 62.
3-point goals—Punahou 2-13 (Ostrowski 2-5, Lee 0-2, Ko 0-2, Otake 0-2, Fowler 0-1, Bridgewater 0-1). Kalaheo 6-20 (Fujita 3-8, Elliott 2-6, Bowers 1-4, Nakashima 0-2).
Rebounds—Punahou 23 (McLachlin 4), Kalaheo 29 (Wilhoite 13).
Assists—Punahou 6 (McLachlin 2), Kalaheo—16 (Wilhoite 4).
