HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Keone Reyes of Kaimuki celebrated a basket during last night's OIA Red championship game.
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Kaimuki repeats as OIA Red champ
Albrechtson and Colon help the Bulldogs stop third-ranked Kalaheo
Kaimuki claimed its second consecutive Oahu Interscholastic Association championship last night after giving Kalaheo a whiff of Colon.
Next Up State tourney on Tuesday
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Senior guard Daniel Colon poured in 14 points to supplement teammate Beau Albrechtson's game-high 17 as the fifth-ranked Bulldogs downed the third-ranked Mustangs 56-45 in the championship game of the OIA Red Division tournament at McKinley's Student Council Gym.
Both squads had already qualified for next week's state tournament, but the Bulldogs earn a bye in the opening round with the win.
"We just did what we had to do, and we really wanted it," Colon said. "I just played with the flow of the game, and I knew I had to take the ball more when they played up (on defense)."
Kaimuki (11-5) jumped out to an early 11-2 lead, thanks in part to eight points from Keone Reyes, who notched 16 points in the game. But Kalaheo battled back to pull within 14-8 at the end of the first quarter.
The Mustangs used a 10-0 run that started with nearly 2 minutes remaining in the first quarter to pull ahead 15-14 early in the second period. After the squads knotted the score at 17 with 4:13 to play in the half, both teams see-sawed with the lead until Kalaheo grabbed a 25-23 advantage with under a minute to go.
But the Bulldogs ran a set play that created space for Colon at the top of the key, and the senior nailed a 3-pointer to beat the buzzer and give his group the 26-25 lead at the break.
"That's a play we've practiced all year long, and we finally ran it perfect," said a grinning Colon of his momentum-swinging shot.
Each team put together four-point streaks to begin the third period, but Kaimuki pulled away on 3-pointers from both Reyes and Albrechtson. Then Colon stole the ball from point guard Cody vonAppen, and fed Albrechtson, who was sprinting ahead and emphatically slammed the ball down tomahawk-style to increase the lead to 39-31.
"My team's been bugging me to dunk it because I like to do it all the time in practice," Albrechtson said of his jam. "I tried to put it down as hard as I could without getting a (technical foul for yanking on the rim)."
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kaimuki's Keone Reyes and Kalaheo's Cody vonAppen dove for a loose ball in the first half of the OIA Red championship game.
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Kalaheo (12-3) cut the deficit to 37-35 in the early going of the fourth period, but the Bulldogs went on a 13-5 run that resulted in a 52-42 lead. The Mustangs didn't help matters, as their shooters went cold, and the offense mustered just three points in the final 5:17 in the game.
"From the start, things didn't go well," said Kalaheo head coach Chico Furtado. "It seemed like every time we made a run, they'd counter."
Cliffton Pires led the Mustangs with nine points, and teammate Chase Moses chipped in eight.
Kaimuki used a diamond-and-one defense to limit Cheynne Lishman, who finished with seven points.
"I got that from (former HPU coach Tony) Sellitto," Grant said.
Kaimuki finally got past the Mustangs; Kalaheo won both regular-season meetings between the teams.
"The same thing happened last year when Kahuku beat us twice," said Albrechtson of the way last year's squad defeated the Red Raiders in the OIA title game after being swept in the teams' two earlier meetings.
After Kaimuki fell to eventual state champion Iolani 54-41 to end last season's state playoff run, Albrechtson and Reyes were named to the State Championship All-Tournament Team. This year, the Bulldogs will be in search of their second state title, with their lone championship coming in 1993.
Kalaheo last won the state tournament in 2001 with a team that included the guard tandem of D.C. Daniels and Skyler Wilson, and forward--turned University of Hawaii defensive lineman and now professional prospect Ikaika Alama-Francis. Last season, the Mustangs made it to the quarterfinal round of the state tourney, where they were eliminated by Iolani 59-38.
At McKinley H.S. gym
Kalaheo (12-3) |
8 |
17 |
8 |
12 |
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45
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Kaimuki (11-5) |
14 |
12 |
13 |
17 |
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56 |
KALAHEO--Cody vonAppen 3, Koa Siliga 4, Taylor Jay 3, Larry Soto 0, Keano Bruhn 0, Bruce Andrews 0, Tyler Caswell 5, Cheynne Lishman 7, Chase Moses 8, Cliffton Pires 9, Aaron Fernandez 3, D.J. Chung 0, Deaux Burns 2.
KAIMUKI--Daniel Colon 14, Chezz Ramos-Dias 0, Craig Cabudol 0, Brandon
Madamba 2, Bryan Lim 0, Chauncey Nicola 2, Makalii Nahinu 4, Ryan Kakitani 1, Keone Reyes 16, Beau Albrechtson 17.
3-point goals: Kalaheo 7 (Moses 2, Jay, vonAppen, Fernandez, Lishman, Siliga), Kaimuki 7 (Reyes 3, Albrechtson 2, Colon).