Saturday, February 13, 1999
By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Kalaheo's Julian Sensley throws down an emphatic
slam dunk in the OIA championship game victory.
Kalaheo OIA
champ again
The unbeaten Mustangs are
By Cindy Luis
at their best in taking
their 12th league title
Star-BulletinHalf empty or half full? Kalani coach Mark Pacarro chose to look at last night's thumping by Kalaheo in a positive light.
"This is the cherry on the sundae," said Pacarro after his Falcons were blown out by the Mustangs, 82-43, in the OIA boys' basketball title game. "Our kids are a bunch of overachievers. We've got one special guy in Everett Frye and we've got a 5-9 center.
"We asked our kids the other day if they thought we'd be playing in this game. A lot of them said no. For us to get this far is great. Tonight, we ran into a very hot team."
The bright lights of Blaisdell Arena seemed to energize the Mustangs (12-0), who have survived several late-quarter scares during their 12th OIA title campaign. The first time Kalaheo played Kalani this season, the game was close until the final six minutes; the Mustangs used an 18-5 run to close out a 60-47 win.
Last night, there would be no need for a last-quarter rally. Kalaheo jumped out to an early 8-1 lead that the Mustangs expanded to 18-6 after 51/2 minutes thanks to shooting guard Levon Freeman.
Freeman hit two of his four 3-pointers en route to scoring 11 of his team's first 18 points. He finished with 17, while getting plenty of help on the inside from forward Julian Sensley (25 points) and center Ryan Hogue (21).
"When the defense sags on Julian and Ryan, it leaves me open," said Freeman, who has committed to play for Hawaii Pacific next season. "Some nights my shot's there, some nights it's not.
"We came out ready to play. We've had some scares and I hope this is good momentum going into the states. This might be a breakout game for us."
By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Kalaheo celebrates after taking the OIA basketball title
with an 82-43 win over Kalani.
Kalaheo heads into next week's state tournament at the Stan Sheriff Center as one of the favorites. The Mustangs are seeking their third state title, hoping to go a step further than last season, when they fell to Iolani in double overtime in the championship contest."It's been a while since we've come to play from the start of a game," said Kalaheo coach Pete Smith, whose team ran its OIA win streak to 72 games. "We shot the ball real well in the first half, were clicking on all cylinders. We haven't had that happen since preseason.
"I've been telling the kids it's that time of year when you need to put four quarters together because you're going to be playing the best teams in the state. It's one thing to tell the kids that and another for them to realize it. I don't care how much you try to motivate them, it's got to come from them."
The Mustangs came out blazing against the undersized Falcons (9-3), hitting nearly 80 percent of their first-half shots. After falling behind by as many as 24 in the first half, Kalani pulled to within 15 twice in the third quarter, the last at 46-31.
Kalaheo then went on a 13-0 tear, sparked by Sensley hitting two off-balance, description-defying baskets. Down 67-43 with five minutes left, Kalani did not score again.
But the Falcons are the No. 2 team in the OIA, their best league finish in some 30 years.
"I didn't think we'd get this far," said Frye, the only Falcon to hit double figures with 19, three points under his scoring average. "I feel good about being in the state tournament and about bringing Kalani to another level."
Kalani 13 6 16 8--43 Kalaheo 24 17 16 23--82Kalani: Everett Frye 19, Lohi Pinho-McKeague 4, Cory Okimura 4, Brandon Ross 0, Keola Castro 7, Kila Kamakawiwoole 4, Malu Akiona 5, Ahren Kersting 0, Jason Lee 0, Justin Namazu 0, Keala-Joe Fujimori, Justin Kobayashi 0, Russell Dement 0,Shaye Oana 0, George Alefasio 0.Kalaheo: Eric Sandovahl 2, Levon Freeman 17, Chris Hatori 4, Ryan Hogue 21, Julian Sensley 25, Ikaika Francis 2, Reggie Bartley 7, Karl Kuhau-Liftee 4, Marvic Navid 0, Damien Guerreiro 0, Kaleo Morton 0, Erin Moorehead 0, D.C. Daniels 0, Andrew Braley 0, Adrien Aurelio 0.
Waianae 60, Castle 39: William "JR" Broadus scored eight of his game-high 22 points during a 14-2 run midway through the third quarter as the Seariders (10-3) pulled away from the Knights (8-5) for third place.
Sam Keauli'i added four of his 15 points during the spurt that turned a 28-28 tie into a 42-30 Waianae advantage with 91 seconds left in the third. The Seariders outscored the Knights, 16-4, in the fourth quarter, holding Castle scoreless over the final five minutes.
Dayton Aberilla led the Knights with 16, including two consecutive 3-pointers to open the second half that helped Castle tie it at 28. Dayton Gernler added 12 points.
Waianae 10 16 18 16--60 Castle 8 12 15 4--39Waianae: Mike Autida 2, Nathan Donnell 10, William Broadus 22, Sam Keauli'i 15, Gerald Boyd 5, Wilfredo Dinong 6, Jonah Nunuha 0, Rashaur Broadus 0, William Ballaran 0, Wesley Lopes 0, Robert Hamill 0, Calvin Brown 0.Castle: Brandon Kaio 2, Dayton Aberilla 16, Buddy Guillermo 3, Dayton Gernler 12, Keola Brinkley, Paul Collins 4, Hyrum Panoke 0, Arnubi Bruhn 0, Micah Chinen 0, Chard Hirata 0, David Shizuma 0, Kalaeloa Robins 0, Maurice Sevelo 0.
The Tigers led, 35-32, with 2:23 remaining but Lefever hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 71 seconds left to tie it. Both teams had chances to win it at the free-throw line but could only convert on one attempt each.
The Mustangs outscored the Tigers, 7-2, in the extra period. Chris Bartley led Kalaheo with 18 points, while McKinley got a team-high eight points from Shawn Pacquing.
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