Friday, February 20, 1998
Defending champion
By Pat Bigold
Moanalua toppled
Star-BulletinIt was a day for neighbor island teams to assert themselves in the Hawaii High School Athletic Association boys' basketball tournament. Unseeded Moanalua, winner of the last two state titles, was upset, while second-seeded Kalaheo and the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's No. 2 team, unseeded St. Louis, survived scares.
In semifinals today at the Blaisdell, the Mustangs (13-0) will play the Crusaders (13-3) at 6:30 p.m., and top-seeded Iolani (13-1) will take on fourth-seeded Maui (13-1).
Maui 67, Moanalua 61: Guard Scott Prather scored 24 points to lead the Maui Interscholastic League champions, but it was Byron Souza's dominance off the glass in the late going that made the big difference.
Souza (13 points, 11 rebounds), a 6-4 senior, made the big rebounds and shots when Maui needed them to keep the Menehunes at bay.
Entering the second half behind, 31-23, Moanalua surged within 33-29. But a Souza putback upped the margin to six.
When Moanalua got within two (35-33) on two Brian Rosado-Galindo free throws, it was Souza who muscled in a shot to increase the margin to four.
With 3 minutes left in the third quarter and Moanalua within three points (39-36), Souza responded with a one-hander and a free throw.
But his most crucial contribution was a powerful defensive rebound and downcourt pass to Patrick Racadio with 49 seconds left that led to a game-clinching 60-52 lead.
"We're not very big, so Byron has to carry the load a lot," said Maui head coach Bill Naylor.
Moanalua head coach Eddie Maruyama agreed that Souza was a big factor.
"They did a good job on the perimeter and they kind of forced us to penetrate, and the big guy was there," he said.
"Mad dog defense -- that's how we won," said Souza. "You look for Ramsey (Williams) to hit 3s but Scott Prather shut him down."
Moanalua 13 10 15 23--61 Maui 18 13 12 24--67Moanalua: Marvin Santiago 15, Ramsey Williams 11, Brian Rosado-Galindo 10, Bryson Kamakura 9, Brian Green 6, Ki Deok Kwon 4, Ricky Marshall-Greene 2, Michael Towner 2.Maui: Scott Prather 24, Byron Souza 13, Ikaika Li Wood 11, Patrick Racadio, Sean Bersamin Robert Collins.
"It's something you live for -- to put that last free throw through," said Harris. "I got a chance to do it."
Harris made a key defensive play with 1:12 left after Julian Sensley had tied the score at 44-44.
He held his position in the low post to draw a charge from guard Cliff Sison and save a basket.
"He came up with a couple of key defensive plays that turned them around," said Kalaheo head coach Pete Smith.
Harris missed a free throw with 1:07 left and Seabury Hall took two timeouts in the last minute in an attempt to set up the right shot. But with six seconds left, Kip Lutu leaped into the air to tip a pass from Joe Marsh at midcourt into the hands of point guard David Abbott, who got it to Harris for the decisive foul.
Sensley, the 6-7 sophomore, scored 20 points (12 in the first half) to lead Kalaheo.
Seabury Hall 8 19 7 10--44 Kalaheo 13 11 10 11--45Seabury Hall: Jamil Newirth 8, Eric Sokalski 2, Joe Marsh 16, David Mayer 14, Cliff Sison 2, Chad Aldrich 2, Daniel Defoe 2.Kalaheo: Charles Harris 3, Levon Freeman 6, Julian Sensley 20, Kip Lutu 6, David Abbott 6, Josh Rust 4.
St. Louis entered the fourth quarter with a 44-37 lead but the Warriors cut it to 57-55 and 59-57 in the last minute before a Timmy Chang free throw and subsequent Anthony Arceneaux steal helped close it out.
"We're not playing well right now," Crusaders head coach Darryl Gabriel said. "The last time we gave up 50 points was some time in December. Defense -- that's our strength. It's a credit to their (Waiakea's) ability to score. You can see why they're champions."
Gabriel said his big men -- 6-3 all-state football player Joe Siofele, 6-5 Vivas and 6-6 Lum -- have been St. Louis' salvation.
"We need our big men -- our big men make the difference down the stretch," he said.
St. Louis 10 15 19 16--60 Waiakea 9 12 16 20--57St. Louis: Matt Vivas 15, Kapena Lum 17, Timmy Chang 4, Kalin Dudley 4, Junior Wong 12, Joe Siofele 8. Waiakea: Kyle Bartholomew 22, Cameron Cuarisma 10, Myron Yoshizumi 3, Jace Tengan 7, Greg Kagawa 11, Andrew Matsuda 2, Chuck Cabral 2.
The Bulldogs were led by David Tautofi's nine points.
Kaimuki 12 10 9 12--43 Iolani 20 19 11 17--67Kaimuki: Darrel Tautofi 4, William Maiava 7, David Tautofi 9, Ryne Sonoda 2, Warren Tang 7, Travis Francisco 4, Tyrone Tausaga 2.Iolani: Shawn Christensen 4, Doug Jackson 13, Cord Anderson 9, Kirk Uejio 9, Brad Anderson 24, Ben Karnuth 2, Michael Aeto 4, Joe Igber 2.
Hilo 27 24 15 22--88 Waimea 22 13 14 16--65Hilo: Jordan Flores 16, Brandon Kauhi 27, Ananda Hall 14. Waimea: Jaime Cabral 10, Chauncey Medeiros 19, Kareem Fuertes 14.