Kalaheo rallies to beat 'Aiea for OIA Division II title, 3-2
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| Kalaheo's Kaliko Kepa scattered eight hits in a complete game effort and went 2-for-3 at the plate, including an RBI single in the sixth, to help the Mustangs defeat 'Aiea for the OIA Division II championship.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser OIA soccer tournament Girls First Round Yesterday's results At Radford Kalaheo 4, Leilehua 1 Kalaheo: Chelsea Anglin 2, Tina Garcia 1, Kahili Cheng 1. Leilehua: Charlene Borromeo 1. 7:15 p.m. — West No. 3 Kapolei (8-2) vs. East No. 6 Roosevelt (5-5-0) At Kahuku Mililani 1, Moanalua 0 Mililani: Sarah Yoro 7:15 p.m. — East No. 3 Kahuku (7-2-1) vs. West No. 6 Radford (4-5-1) Quarterfinals Today At 'Aiea 5:30 p.m. — East No. 2 Kailua (7-1-2) vs. Kapolei-Roosevelt winner 7:15 p.m. — West No. 1 'Aiea (10-0) vs. Kalaheo (8-3) At Castle 5:30 p.m. — West No. 2 Pearl City (8-1-1) vs. Kahuku-Radford winner 7:15 p.m. — East No. 1 Castle (9-0-1) vs. Mililani (8-2-1) Semifinals Wednesday, Feb. 4 At 'Aiea 5:15 p.m. and 7 p.m. — Quarterfinal winners Consolation At Castle Wednesday 5:15 p.m. and 7 p.m. — Quarterfinal losers Friday, Feb. 6 5:15 p.m. and 7 p.m. — 3rd and 5th place matches Championship Saturday, Feb. 7 At Kaiser 6 p.m. — Semifinal winners Boys First Round Wednesday's results At Radford Leilehua 3, Roosevelt 0 Kapolei 4, Kalani 3 At Kaiser Kalaheo 2, 'Aiea 1, 2 OT Kaiser 4, Wai'anae 1 Quarterfinals Thursday's results At Mililani Castle 3, Kapolei 2 Mililani 5, Leilehua 2 At Moanalua Kaiser 2, Pearl City 1 (PK) Kalaheo 1, Moanalua 0 Semifinals Tuesday, Feb 3 At 'Aiea 5:15 p.m.— Kaiser (10-1-1) vs. Kalaheo (7-3-2) 7—Castle (9-1-1) vs. Mililani (10-0) Consolation At Kailua Tuesday 5:15 p.m. and 7 p.m. — Pearl City (8-2-0) vs. Moanalua (8-2-1); Kapolei (8-3-0) vs. Leilehua (6-5). Friday, Feb. 6 5:15 p.m. and 7 p.m. — 3rd and 5th place matches Championship Saturday Feb. 7 At Kaiser 4 p.m. — Semifinal winners |
But thanks to a sudden change in the Hawai'i high school athletic landscape last summer and Kalaheo's 3-2 comeback victory over 'Aiea yesterday, Ngirblekuu and her Mustangs teammates will participate in the inaugural Division II state tournament Feb. 11 and 12 at the University of Hawai'i's Rainbow Wahine Stadium.
Yesterday's game was the O'ahu Interscholastic Association's first Division II championship final, and it featured teams that went a combined 3-17 last year. Kalaheo will be the OIA's lone representative in the four-team tournament.
"I knew Kalaheo was struggling, but it didn't stop me from playing softball," said Ngirblekuu, a junior third baseman who also is standout in cross country and track. "I like it better than cross country or track, so this is great."
The Mustangs (6-6) scored all three of their runs in the bottom of the sixth inning yesterday at Mililani after 'Aiea had taken a 2-0 lead in the fifth. Kalaheo strung together four consecutive hits to lead off the sixth, including run-scoring singles by Kaliko Kepa and Keiki Gager.
Jasmine Napiha'a then blooped a one-out single to right field to score Kepa with the go-ahead run.
Kepa, the Mustangs' starting pitcher, then stranded two Na Ali'i base runners in the seventh with a strikeout to end the game.
"We've proved that we can come back, that's what it's been since the preseason," said Kepa, a sophomore. "In the preseason we were down by one run (often) and came back, so I had faith in our team."
Still, Kepa and her teammates were overjoyed when the final out was made and were thrilled to be playing in a title game on live statewide TV.
"Last year we only won two games, so this is really something," Kepa said.
The state's athletic directors and the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association's executive board approved a Division II state football tournament for the first time last summer, but the proposal included a provision that Division II tournaments for softball and girls basketball also must be added.
Like the football tournament, Division II softball appears to have had a positive effect so far, even for yesterday's losing team, 'Aiea (5-7).
"It was cool to make it to the playoffs," said Na Ali'i senior first baseman Jamie Rosario. "We had a pretty good team, so I'm glad we made the playoffs."
'AIEA (5-7) 000 020 0 — 2 8 1
KALAHEO (6-6) 000 003 x — 3 8 3
Ashley Sato and Megan Sakamoto; Kaliko Kepa and DeAnn Horswill. W — Kepa. L — Sato.
Leading hitters: 'Aiea — Jamie Rosario 2-4, RBI; Kristen Watabu 2-2. Kalaheo — Kepa 2-3, RBI.
JV playoffs — Kapolei 4, Kailua 0
ILH BASKETBALL
Iolani 68, Kamehameha 56: Derrick Low hits six 3-pointers and scored 21 points, Ryan Hirata added 16 and Zach Tollefson 10, leading the unbeaten Raiders past the visiting Warrriors in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu game at Iolani's gym.
Low injured his left ankle on a drive to the basket with 5:04 remaining in the game and did not return. Kamehameha closed the score to 64-56 on Kawika Hepa's 3-pointer with 32 seconds left, but did not score again.
Waika Spencer scored 17 points to lead the Warriors.
KAMEHAMEHA (5-4) 10 12 10 24 — 56
iolani (9-0) 12 19 18 19 — 68
kamehameha — Ikaika Hardie 6, Keo Pacarro 2, Rykin Enos 2, Jacob Ho 5, Mike Nii 0, Waika Spencer 17, Ikaika Shelton 2, Gabe Spencer 8, Kawika Hepa 14. Totals 22 11-14 56.
Iolani — Ryan Hirata 16, Vinny Nip 5, Todd Blankenship 4, Jon Yasuda 3, Derrick Low 21, John Takamura 0, Zach Tollefson 10, Kawika Shoji 5, Kyle Pape 2, Sean Carney 2, James Street 0. Totals 21 20-27 68.
3-point goals — Kamehameha 1 (Hepa). Iolani 6 (Low 3, Tollefson 2, Shoji 1).
PUNAHOU 57, MID-PACIFIC 36: Brenton Lee scored 16 points, Jeremiah Strowski added 13 and the host Buffanblu outscored the Owls, 30-16, in the second half en route to an ILH victory at Punahou.
MID-PACIFIC (3-6) 14 6 10 6 — 36
PUNAHOU (8-1) 17 10 18 12 — 57
MID-PACIFIC — Burton Woodhull 0, Josh Mitchell 6, Chris Perry 8, Kyle Sakamoto 0, Ryan Chun 3, JD Lum 4, Kellen Hastie 10, Chris Freshour 2, Chad Takabuki 0, Cody Walker 0, Jordan Tani 0, Bryson Beirne 3. Totals 14 8-12 36.
PUNAHOU — Jeremiah Ostrowski 13, Storm Bridgewater 3, Danny Cho 4, Reid Fowler 6, Scott Otake 1, Brenton Lee 16, Robby Shklov 1, Morgan Ellsworth 5, Ka'ohu Berg-Hee 0, Spencer McLachlin 2, Kasey Ko 6. Totals 24 4-8 57.
3-point goals — Pun 5 (Fowler 2, Ostroski, Lee, Bridgewater).
JV — Punahou 43, Damien 33.
Saint Louis 47, Damien 43: Kerstan Ho scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Crusaders past the Monarchs in an ILH game at McCabe Gym. Ranson DeCosta scored 11 points to lead Damien.
Damien (5-4) 10 11 12 10 — 43
Saint louis (2-7) 8 12 14 13 — 47
Damien — Micah Kikuta 5, Justin Casil 8, Kawika Lopez 8, Ranson DeCosta 11, Tevita Williams 7, Brandon Kahale 4. Totals 15 10-20 43.
SAINT LOUIS — B.J. Batts 8, Keao Monteilh 4, Desmond Hanohano 9, Kerstan Ho 20, Stephen Lei 6. Totals 20 3-11 47.
3-point goals — Damien 3 (Casil 2, DeCosta 1). Saint Louis 4 (Ho 2, Batts 2).
UNIVERSITY 50, MARYKNOLL 38: David Johnson scored 19 points and James Cabras added 13 as the Junior Bows defeated the Spartans in an ILH game at Iolani.
UNIVERSITY (4-5) 9 8 13 20 — 50
MARYKNOLL (0-10) 6 4 11 17 — 38
UINVERSITY — Scott Nishimoto 7, Jose Ver 0, Al Clark 0, John Duro 6, Michale Tenerio 0, James Cabras 13, Albert Li 1, Lucion Holyfeild 4, David Johnson 19 Totals 18 13-20 50.
Maryknoll — Tyler Tsukazaki 8, Edward Kawahara 14, Riley Tang 4, Jordan Durant 8, Christopher Lum 0, Michael Toyama 0, Tommy Nguyen 4. Totals 12 9-14 38.
3-point goals — Uinv. 1 (Johnson). Mary 5 (Edward Kawahara 4, Tyler Tsukazaki).
ILH DIVISION II BASKETBALL
Iolani 75, Redemption 55. Iol—Cale Yamada 20, Alex Why 11, Paul Bennett 11. RA—Anthony Troche 25, Scott Duvauchelle 14, Kaanoi Poouahi 10.
Hanalani 69, Academy of the Pacific 50. Hana—Keoni Haole 17, Justin Suderman 16, Collin Furukawa 13, Grant Cummins 12. AOP—Kaimana Komaine 22, Puna Kaopuiki 10.
Kamehameha 67, Lanakila Baptist 46. Kam—Justin Padialla 14, William Kane 12. Lana—Charles Hazelwood 19, Kiley Tanioka 15.
Punahou 42, Christian Academy 19
Saint Louis 83, ASSETS 30. St.L—Oren Long 16, Danny Lee 13, Keali'i Perbera 12.
Word of Life 57, Hawai'i Baptist 51 (OT). WOL—Brashton Satele 20, Shane Lawrence 13, Chad Sui 10. HBA—Will Stinton 12.
DIVISION I JV
Maryknoll 51, HBA 33
Iolani 43, Kamehameha 36 (OT)
DIVISION II JV
University High 43, Word of Life 38
Mid-Pacific 61, Lutheran 25
OIA BASKETBALL
Kalaheo 77, Thompson 11: Jason Tanaka sank five 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 15 points to lead the Mustangs, who rested starting center Sam Wilhoite, to an OIA East victory.
THOMPSON (0-9) 0 4 5 2 — 11
Kalaheo(8-1) 20 20 15 17 — 72
THOMPSON — Stanley Gonda 6, Justin Chang 0, John Abrams 0, Devin Eror 0, Aja Muncie 0, Lance Chang 0, Isaac Scharsch 0, Joshua Musick 5. Totals 4 2-2 11.
KalAheo — Elias Ayau 4, Matt Nakashima 4, Theo Fujita 5, Kahua Hollinger 3, William Elliott 5, Neil Bowers 8, Joshua Perry 11, David Moore 5, Clifton Pires 6, Jason Tanaka 15, Daniel Phair 6. Totals 29 5-6 72.
3-point goals—Thompson 1 (Musick). Kalaheo 9 (Tanaka 5, Fujita 1, Hollinger 1, Elliott 1, Perry 1).
Reported by Kandice Kinney
Kaiser 51, Farrington 29: Matt Ching scored 11 points and the visiting Cougars used a 12-2 third quarter to beat the Governors for their first OIA East victory.
KAISER (1-7) 12 15 12 12 — 51
FARRINGTON (2-7) 10 10 2 7 — 29
Kaiser — Chad Nishihira 3, Matt Ching 11, Andy Uehara 5, Jeoff Peters 7, Chris Assily 9, Mitch Shimabukuro 2, Shelton Herring 2, Colby Ho 2, Brett Hattoh 1, Shannon Wise 4, James Bellow 0, Steven Pratt 5. Totals 18 12-22 51.
Farrington — Shanson Garcia 0, N.C. Dela Cruz 5, Troung Nguyen 0, Ferdinand Morales 0, Dave Valoria 0, Devan Selman 2, Michah Kalingo 0, Matt Bell 2, Eti Atonio 9, John Fonoti 6, Jay-Ar Mariano 5, Jermaine Rabago 0, Kuaika Kamano 0. Totals 11 5-7 29.
3-point goals — Kaiser 3 (Wise, Pratt, Peters). Farrington 2 (Dela Cruz, Mariano).
JV — Farrington 59, Kaiser 41
Reported by Gretchen Santos
MOANALUA 64, KAILUA 34: Joseph Nishimura scored 14 points and 13 of the 15 Menehunes who played scored at least two points in an OIA East victory over the visiting Surfriders.
KAILUA (0-8) 3 11 9 11 — 34
Moanalua (7-2) 13 12 19 20 — 64
KAILUA—Kama Crowell 3, Tyler Harrison 0, Kelroy Kohatsu 0, Zach Akamine 1, Hogan Paleafei 4, Cory Nemoto 9, Bronson Kamaka 5, Justin Pedro 2, Wayne Kaiu-Denning 0, Kea Crowell 0, Kainoa LaCount 10. Totals 11 9-19 34.
Moanalua — Sean Mullaney 4, Mitchell Kuga 2,Glen Gascon 4, Joseph Nishimura 14, Michael Loeschke 4, Marquise Du Vall 5, Johnathan Asutad 2, Greg Morgan 4, Glenn Taijeron 5, Zachary Pendergast 6, Darin-Jay Shinagawa 6, Eric Keys 6, Ira Rodrigues 2, Kamoe Mehrtens 0, Micah Bagor 0. Totals 20 19-26 64.
3-point goals — Kail (Nemoto 2, Kama Crowell). Moan 5 (Shinagawa 2, Nishimura 2, Pendergast).
JV—Moanalua 49, Kailua 37.
Leilehua 65, Waialua 54: Anthony Palomares scored 24 points, sparking the visiting Mules over the Bulldogs in an OIA West game.
LEILEHUA (4-3) 15 11 22 17 — 65
Waialua (0-8) 6 9 15 24 — 54
LEILEHUA — Angelo Massey 3, Edward Garcia 10, Kennedy Orteza 3, Anthony Palomares 24, Antonio Carter 3, Kekoa Kama 1, Yahweh Yago 2, BJ Fruean 4, Anthony Hall 7, Angel Fontanez 1, Joshua Fetters 5, David Spore 2. Totals 22 15-33 65.
WAIALUA — Roldan Dacuycuy 4, Kelson Silva 5, Glenn Rubio 9, Lawrence Sumaoang 15, Mark Langaman 0, Joshua Miller 1, Charles Bell 8, Brandon Macadangdang 4, Yashua Zawadi 0, Ikaika Hina 8. Totals 16 16-32 54.
3-point goals — Leilehua 6 (Palomares 3, Garcia 2, Fetters 1). Waialua 6 (Rubio 3, Sumaoang 2, Silva 1).
JV—Leilehua 63, Waialua 43
Reported by Danialle Calaustro
PEARL CITY 51, CAMPBELL 48: Brandon Rambonga and A.J. Fultz each scored 14 points, the the visiting Chargers rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Sabers in an OIA West game.
PEARL CITY (7-2) 6 18 10 17 — 51
Campbell (3-5) 8 11 17 12 — 48
PEARL CITY —Rollie Salvacion 5, Halzton Verdida 0, Michael Hardy 9, Royce Yuen 5, Ricky Salvacion 0, Jason Lopes 2, Patrick Angel 2, Bryan Olarti 0, Shaine Lum 0, Brandon Rambonga 14, Jeremy Pahukoa-Malia 0, AJ Fultz 14, Dee Briscoe 0. Totals 20 9-12 51.
Campbell — Tristan Bailey 19, Robert Morris 4, Ian Kelly 0, C.J. Chenault 7, Chris Daniels 13, Tristan Sealy 0, Taetuli Tafai 3, Keali'i Basham 2, Issac Laupola 0, James Bannister 0. Totals 18 7-11 48.
3-point goals — P.C. 2 (Rambonga 2,). Campbell 5 (Bailey 3, Daniels 2).
JV—Pearl City 37, Campbell 22
Reported by Kenneth Tangjian
Wai'anae 55, Waipahu 46: Jayson Milare and Justin Lafua scored 18 points each to carry the host Seariders to an OIA West victory. Waipahu's Jacob Aga made five 3-pointers for 15 points.
WAIPAHU (1-7) 14 14 9 9 — 46
Wai'anae (2-6) 15 9 12 19 — 55
WAIPAHU — Jamar Pacupac 0, Jarrett Kalaola 8, Jacob Aga 15, Stanley Abasial 3, Albert Gamayo 6, Andre Tailele 2, Jonathan Cordeiro 0, Matthew Namu 1, Tyrone Vaimaona 11. Totals 18 2-4 46.
WAI'ANAE — Darell Academia 4, Dewey Daves 5, Jr. Faliuga 7, Albert Galano 0, Easten Gonzales 0, Kala Honda 0, Justin Lafua 18, Jayson Milare 18, Chad Puha 0, John Solaita 3, Mark Mokiao 0. Totals 19 13-25 55.
3-point goals — Waipahu 8 (Aga 5, Gamayo 2, Vaimaona 1). Wai'anae 4 (Milare 3, Daves 1).
JV—Wai'anae 36, Waipahu 38
Reported by Kendall Maeda
ILH SOCCER
Iolani vs. Pac-Five POSTPONED: The varsity boys soccer match between Iolani and Pac-Five was postponed yesterday, as a bus could not be delivered due to a two-hour freeway closure. The match will be rescheduled at a later date.
Yesterday's Results
Boys Varsity
Punahou 1, Kamehameha 0
Punahou: Stephen Carlson.
Mid-Pacific 4, Damien 2
MPI: Jared Yamauchi 2, Chris Domingo 1, Shinji Takahashi 1. Damien: Kenneth Pichay 1, Cory Mullen 1.
Saint Louis 2, Hawai'i Baptist 1
St.L: Zack De Silva 1, Jim Terry 1. HBA: Cameron Holm 1.
OIA JV SOCCER
GIRLS PLAYOFFS
Mililani 2, Castle 0
Mililani: Kirsten Fujimoto 1, Seneca Black 1.
Pearl City 2, Kahuku 0
PC: Michelle Maeda 1, Valerie Ochoa 1
Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2456
