Moanalua
rallies past PunahouThe win puts Menehunes in next round
By Pat Bigold
of state boys’ basketball tourney
Star-BulletinDefending champion Moanalua played like the undead last night in the first round of the state basketball tournament at McCabe Gym. Punahou appeared to have driven a stake right through its opponent's heart by amassing a 15-point lead midway through the third quarter. And Moanalua even helped dig its own grave with 5-for-11 free-throw shooting in the third.
But three Menehune underclassmen -- Ramsey Williams, Brian Rosado-Galindo and Bryson Kamakura -- suddenly sat up in their tournament coffins and combined for a 27-point effort that choked the life out of Punahou's momentum.
Moanalua's remarkable 64-56 comeback victory in one of the best first-round matchups in state tournament history puts the Menehunes in tonight's quarterfinal game at 8 against third-seeded Maui Interscholastic League champion Baldwin at the Blaisdell Arena.
In other quarterfinal games, fourth-seeded Hilo will take on Seabury Hall at 3:30 p.m., top-seeded Iolani will meet Aiea at 5 p.m. and second-seeded Kalaheo will face Waiakea at 6:30 p.m.
"Coach told us they had their run, and now we're going to get ours," said Moanalua junior point guard Williams, who led all scorers with 25 points.
Three minutes into the third quarter, Brandon Brooks' putback polished off a 12-0 run by the Buffanblu and gave Punahou a 15-point lead.
"We called a timeout and told the boys, 'Don't lose your composure,' " said Eddie Maruyama, Moanalua's eighth-year head coach.
"Everything was going Punahou's way at the time, so we told the boys, 'They took their best shot, now we have to take a shot at them.' We picked up our intensity, applied full-court pressure, and we started to attack the basket instead of standing around on offense."
Rosado-Galindo ended Moanalua's second-half scoring drought with 5:08 left on a three-point play that made the score 41-29. The Menehunes then went on a 14-2 tear that culminated with Ron Jones' game-tying basket (43-43) nine seconds into the fourth quarter.
Daniel Bruce's steal and layup gave Moanalua a 47-45 lead with 7:22 left in the game. It was the first time Moanalua had led since the two-minute mark of the first quarter.
Steven Gilliam, Punahou's penetrating sophomore guard, gave the Buffanblu their first lead (5-4) with a 3-pointer.
But Gilliam and another key Punahou player, Brooks, got into foul trouble.
Gilliam got his third at the end of the first half while Brooks picked up his fourth just as Moanalua had begun its big rally.
"I thought that eliminated their inside game," said Maruyama. "They went perimeter more. They didn't hit as many shots as I thought they would.
"And, of course, rebounding was easier without Brooks in there. He's a helluva player."
With a strike seemingly in the offing and the possibility that the tournament could be scrubbed, Maruyama injected some urgency into his sideline exhortations.
"Coach told us to think of this as our championship game," said Rosado Galindo.
Moanalua 9 17 15 23--64 Punahou 14 15 14 13--56Moanalua: Jones 6, Rosado-Galindo 13, Williams 25, Marshall-Greene 4, Kesaji 0, Bruce 5, Kamakura 9, Santiago 2.Punahou: Kim 7, Stietzel 2, Ichinose 0, Brooks 18, Brokaw 8, Salter 8, Gilliam 8, Tauotaha 2, Chock 2.
Waiakea 40, Kaiser 37: At McCabe Gym, Wes Cabreros, a 6-2 senior guard, scored a game-high 21 points, including a critical 7-for-10 at the foul line in the fourth quarter.
"Wes has been taking it to the hole all year for us," said Waiakea head coach Herb Yasuhara.
"He's not afraid to take it in and mix it up with the big guys. He's not afraid of contact."
Kaiser battled down to the closing seconds. After Cabreros' free throw made it 38-34 for Waiakea with 25 seconds to go, Jared Minato hit a 3-pointer for Kaiser with 13 seconds left.
But, after a timeout, Pierre Elliot's 3-point attempt missed and time ran out on the Cougars.
Kaiser 10 8 14 5--37 Waiakea 10 12 11 7--40Kaiser: Kakuda 4, O'Heron 6, Giles 134, Elliott 2, Sutton 9, Sato 0, McGee 0, Minato 3, Gregerson 0.Waiakea: Kagawa 7, Hartle-Schutte 2, Cabreros 21, Bugado 6, Shaun Wallace 2, Makuakane 2, Tengan 0, Okimoto 0, Bartholomew 0.
Mark Okano led Aiea with a game-high 22 points -- scoring seven in the first quarter and eight in the fourth quarter.
Lee George added 12 points and Rex Kolone had 11.
For Kapaa, Corey Miranda scored 12 points and Duane Vilarin added 10.
Kapaa 11 13 6 17--55 Aiea 16 9 15 11--58Kapaa: Corey Miranda 12, Duane Vilarin 10, Aguano 7, Porio 6, Hill 2, McKeague 2, Moises 5, Inouye 3, Moe 2, Garcia 2, Miller 4.Aiea: Mark Okano 22, Lee George 12, Rex Kolone 11, Offerman 7, Sullivan 6, Davis 0, Yim 0, Toilolo 0, Pope 0, Liilii 0.
Dave Mayer had 14 points to back up Bell's effort.
Seabury Hall 14 17 12 16--59 Waipahu 12 4 7 12--35Seabury Hall: Royal Bell 22, Dave Mayer 14, Perez 7, Roth 0, McNish 2, Sisson 0, Wendroth 2, Harris 8, Sokalski 2, Newirth 0, Anderson 0, Spesko 2.Waipahu: Jaymar Acidera 8, Neal Gossett 8, Canencia 5, Chang 0, Aquino 2, Letua 0, Takeshita 2, Basega 6, Williams 4.
OTwin puts Kahuku
Star-Bulletin staff
into state soccer
quarterfinalsAn own goal one minute, 30 seconds into overtime sent Kahuku into today's quarterfinal round of the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts/Hawaii High School Athletic Association boys' soccer tournament. Kapaa, which got goals from Jason Molina and Matt Tinder, suffered the tough loss yesterday, 3-2.
Brandon Villamor and Kupaa Oleole scored for the Red Raiders.
In yesterday's first match at Aloha Stadium, Jacob Espiau headed in a corner kick to lift Kalaheo over Hilo, 1-0.
Mustangs goalie Mike McCarthy had eight saves to preserve the shutout.
Castle then edged Hawaii Prep, 2-1, on goals by Kalei Kanaeholo and Aaron Fujimoto, who scored the game-winner 18:19 into the second half.
Kris Haynes scored for Hawaii Prep.
In the final match, first-half goals by Brett Ho, Derek Lock and Tioni Hackney carried Punahou past Kaiser, 3-0.
In today's quarterfinals at Aloha Stadium, Kahuku plays No. 1 seed Iolani at 1:30 p.m., Kalaheo meets No. 4 seed Waiakea at 3:30 p.m., Punahou takes on No. 3 seed St. Anthony at 5:30 p.m. and Castle faces No. 2 seed Mililani at 7:30 p.m.
