Kamehameha Oahu beats Big Isle Warriors

The team from the Kapalama campus wins a showdown between two Kamehameha squads

Despite a late flurry from the third-seeded Warriors of Kamehameha-Hawaii, Kamehameha's ability to stay calm under pressure proved to be the difference.

HHSAA boys basketball At Radford/McKinley H.S. gyms and Stan Sheriff Center Seeds: 1. Iolani. 2. Kaimuki. 3. Kamehameha-Hawaii. 4. Baldwin. YESTERDAY At Radford H.S. gym 5: Kahuku 50, Baldwin 46, OT 6: Iolani 59, Kalaheo 38 At McKinley H.S. gym 7: Kamehameha 49, Kamehameha-Hawaii 45 8: Kaimuki 68, Campbell 50 TODAY At Stan Sheriff Center 9: Honokaa vs. Waimea, 10:45 a.m. 10: Lahainaluna vs. Saint Louis, 12:30 p.m. 11: Baldwin vs. Kalaheo, 2:15 p.m. 12: Kamehameha-Hawaii vs. Campbell, 4 p.m. 13: Kamehameha vs. Kaimuki, 6 p.m. 14: Kahuku vs. Iolani, 8 p.m. TOMORROW At Stan Sheriff Center 15: Winners of Games 10 & 9, 2:30 p.m. 16: Winners of Games 12 & 11, 4 p.m. 17: Losers of Games 13 & 14, 6 p.m. 18: Winners of Games 13 & 14, 8 p.m.

Jacob Ho scored a game-high 17 points and teamed with Rykin Enos to convert nine of 10 free throws in the final quarter as unseeded Kamehameha defeated Kamehameha-Hawaii 49-45 to advance to the semifinals of the Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Boys Basketball State Championship last night at McKinley.

Kealoha Kramer led Kamehameha-Hawaii with 12 points, but four free throws by Enos in the final 25 seconds helped Kamehameha advance to tonight's semifinal against Kaimuki at 6 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"We played one of our better games all season," Kamehameha coach Jesse Nakanishi said. "Tonight more than ever we really worked the ball inside, something we didn't do the first game."

It was the first meeting in the state tournament between the two schools, and Enos compared the game to playing against his own family.

"It was kind of like a brother vs. brother type matchup," Enos said. "It was one of those games that kind of makes you extra competitive because you don't want to lose to your brother."

Hoping to avoid a slow start for the second night in a row, Kamehameha raced out to an early 7-2 lead. However, Kamehameha-Hawaii turned up the defense and held the Warriors to just one field goal in the final 4:33 to take a one-point lead at the end of the quarter.

With the pace slowed to a tempo more to the liking of Kamehameha-Hawaii, a 3-pointer by Kramer gave them their biggest lead at 19-13. However a basket by Enos at the buzzer tied the game at 19 heading into halftime.

"That's not really our style of play and we struggled at times," Ho said. "We were able to keep our composure and make clutch plays when it counted the most."

A layup by Keanemana Silva cut Kamehameha's lead to 34-32 early in the fourth quarter, but the Warriors held Kamehameha-Hawaii without a field goal for the next 4:17 as they went on a 7-0 run to take a nine-point lead. Kamehameha-Hawaii got 3-pointers from Silva, Kramer and Reece Alnas in the final minute, but Enos converted all four free throws in the final 25 seconds to pull out the win.

"When I go out to practice, my first shots and my last shots are all free throws," Enos said. "I just look at each shot as another shot and make sure I have confidence."

While Nakanishi was much more pleased with last night's victory than his team's first-round victory over Lahainaluna, the importance of last night's all-Kamehameha battle was not lost on the coach.

"This is the first of hopefully many more to come," Nakanishi said. "It was a historic night and I was interested to see how it all would play out even though deep inside I didn't want to play them."

Kamehameha was held without a 3-point field goal, but made up for it by outrebounding its counterpart from the Big Island 24-12.

At McKinley H.S. gym

Kamehameha-Kapalama (12-3)	9	10	13	17	--	49
Kamehameha-Hawaii (15-1)	10	9	11	15	--	45

KAMEHAMEHA--Randy Cummings 2, Jesse Moniz 0, Brandon Ahlo 0, Andrew Godinet 7, Mitchell Kauweloa 6, Jacob Ho 17, Rykin Enos 10, Pono Hanson 1, Jay Kauka 0, Kanoa Mokiao 0, Kea Smith 6.

KAMEHAMEHA-HAWAII--Christopher Aiwohi-Kegler 6, Kameaaloha Wong 2, Keanemana Silva 7, Kealoha Kramer 12, Ikaika Kaleohano 0, Reece Alnas 9, Jacob Naki 8, Andrew Love Jr. 1, Colton Collins 0.

3-point goals -- Kamehameha 0, Kamehameha-Hawaii 5 (Alnas 2, Kramer 2, Silva)

Kaimuki 68, Campbell 50

Beau Albrechtson scored 17 of his game-high 23 points as the Bulldogs finished the game on a 10-2 run to pull away from the Sabers.

Ryan Hayes nailed three 3-pointers and had a game-high 19 points for Campbell. Mike Makinano added seven of his nine points in the fourth quarter, but the Sabers were outscored 38-27 in the second half.

Keone Reyes and Shaun Dela Calzada each poured in 15 points for the OIA champion Bulldogs, who after falling behind 16-15 at the end of the first quarter, dominated the rest of the game by continually pounding the ball inside and getting easy transition baskets off the break.

At McKinley H.S. gym

Campbell (11-4)	16	7	13	14	--	50
Kaimuki (13-2)	15	15	18	20	--	68

CAMPBELL--Raymond Samante 0, Ryan Hayes 19, Mike Makinano 9, Matthew Samante 2, Michael McDonald 0, Jayden Delizo 4, Tristan Sealy 11, Walter Daniels 0, Terence Tafai 0, Dexter Vanhook 5.

KAIMUKI--Daniel Colon 5, Shaun Dela Calzada 15, Shadrach Ramos-Dias 4, Phillip Miyasaka 0, Keone Reyes 15, Jarett Shiu 6, Beau Albrechtson 23, Swaine Seto-Mook 0, Craig Cabudol 0, Ryan Kakitani 0, Bryan Lim 0.

3-point goals -- Campbell 5 (Hayes 3, Makinano, Sealy), Kaimuki 1 (Shiu)