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Friday, February 25, 2000

St. Louis and
Hilo in final

Guards will be the focal
point in the State Boys' Basketball
Championship at the Stan
Sheriff Center tonight

By Dave Reardon
Star-Bulletin

Enoch McKeague thinks back to small kid days, and he remembers learning to play basketball when he was 8-years old with Hilo's Jason Mandaquit and Kimo Keiter-Charles.

"I lived on the Big Island and grew up with those guys until seventh grade," the 5-foot-9 junior guard said.

Tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center, McKeague is a key player -- for St. Louis -- as the Vikings (13-1) and Crusaders (12-2) square off in the final of the Hawaiian Airlines Boys' State Basketball Championships.

Tip-off is at 8, following three other games.

Although this year's state tournament was considered wide open, Hilo and St. Louis was predicted the most likely matchup for the final -- at least by the seeding committee that ranked the Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion No. 1 and the Interscholastic League of Honolulu kingpin No. 2.

Both are led by exciting guards who showed off for 2,812 fans last night.

Keiter-Charles scored 18 points and Mandaquit had 10 and nine assists as Hilo beat Baldwin, 58-46, in one semifinal.

Junior Wong bombed away for 22 points and a clutch 3-pointer in overtime as St. Louis outlasted Roosevelt, 58-55, in the other.

That leaves McKeague, who is not as flamboyant as Mandaquit and Keiter-Charles, nor his own backcourt mate, Wong.

But if McKeague can slow down whichever Viking guard he is assigned in St. Louis' pressing defense schemes, the Crusaders will have a much better chance to win their first title since 1986.

"If there's a key or a sleeper, it's Enoch," St. Louis coach Delbert Tengan said. "He's very steady and he puts pressure on the ball."

St. Louis 58, Roosevelt 55 (OT):

Wong hit three of his six 3-pointers in the first quarter, and his last in overtime to give the Crusaders the lead they would keep.

"Fortunately in the second half he cooled off a little bit. But he killed us in the beginning," said Rough Riders coach Jon Chung. "Good players step up in this kind of tournament, and he stepped up."

Roosevelt's Chad Kapanui missed two free throws with 10 seconds left in regulation, but he grabbed his own rebound and banked in an 8-footer to tie the game at 47-all and force overtime.

Roosevelt	18 9 10 10 8-55
St. Louis	20 8 12 7 11-58

ROOSEVELT: Keola Steitzel 10, Van Dorsey 10, Chad Owens 0, Maulia LaBarre 6, Chad Kapanui 17, Joshua Yoshimoto 12, T.J. Talaro 0, Kala Koki 0.

ST. LOUIS: Joey Borja 4, Junior Wong 22, Enoch McKeague 7, John Paul Kanoa 9, Kalvin Koverman 11, Jose Vidad 0, Brenden Clement 1, Jason Rivers 4, Sanoe Mokuahi 0.

3-point goals-Roosevelt 5 (Kapanui 4, Steitzel); St. Louis 7 (Wong 6, McKeague). Rebounds-Roosevelt 36 (LaBarre, Dorsey 10, Kapanui 8); St. Louis 21 (Koverman, Rivers 5). Assists-Roosevelt 12 (LaBarre, Kapanui, Talaro 3); St. Louis 10 (McKeague 4, Wong, Koverman 2).

HILO 58, BALDWIN 46:

The Bears (15-4) dictated a slow pace in the first half, but it didn't matter as the Vikings proved they could play the halfcourt game, too.

"People say we can only run," Hilo coach Larry Manliguis said. "But a lot of our offense is generated by our halfcourt defense."

Mandaquit found Keiter-Charles with two spectacular passes near the end of the first half to give Hilo a 28-16 lead.

Baldwin	12 6 10 18-46
Hilo	13 17 9 19-58

BALDWIN: A.J. Garbin 0, Cliff Dagulo 18, Alika Amasiu 0, Kalei Houpo 7, Brandon Ahonima 4, Pono Ordonez 0, Reed Suzuki 15, Isaac Medeiros 2.

HILO: Jason Mandaquit 10, Wesley Martinez 6, Kimo Keiter-Charles 18, Napela Naniole 12, Holoakea Nathaniel 9, Bryson Moses 2, Preston Jarneski 0, Tyson Takiue 0, Chris Kanakaole 1.

3-point goals-Baldwin 4 (Suzuki 3, Dagulo); Hilo 3 (Keiter-Charles 2, Nathaniel). Rebounds-Baldwin 18 (Houpo 5); Hilo 25 (Martinez, Naniole 5). Assists-Baldwin 14 (Dagulo 4, Garbin 3); Hilo 16 (Mandaquit 9).

RADFORD 59, IOLANI 57:

Sam Baker's only points of the game came on a layup at the buzzer, helping the Rams (15-2) beat the Raiders (10-5) in a fifth-place bracket game.

Radford	18 8 22 11-59
Iolani	14 17 18 8-57

RADFORD: Jacob Avilla 9, Jacob Sur 10, Brandon Reyes 0, Sa Tanuvasa 16, Isaac Dunklee 10, Justin Cariaga 0, David Foster 0, Chris Pirtle 0, Robert Sanchez 6, Sam Baker 2, Frank Kuresa 4, Jonathan Atimua 2.

IOLANI: Bronson Melemai 3, Travis McGaughy 10, Bobby Nash 4, Bobby Webster 10, Donny Mateaki 3, Joseph Udell 15, Shane Ouchi 3, Tyler McCready 7, Ryan Hannemann 2.

3-point goals-Radford 3 (Sur 2, Avilla); Iolani 4 (Webster 2, Melemai, McGaughy). Rebounds-Radford 25 (Dunklee 5, Avilla, Kuresa, Atimua 4); Iolani 24 (Udell 5, Nash, McCready 4). Assists-Radford 12 (Avilla 4, Sur 2); Iolani 14 (Nash 4, Udell 3, Melemai, Mateaki 2).

Kalaheo 50, Lahainaluna 49:

D.C. Daniels, who has scored more than 20 points in all three of his tournament games, led the Mustangs (12-3) over the Lunas (15-5) in a fifth-place bracket game.

Lahainaluna	13 10 13 13-49
Kalaheo	12 7 14 17-50

LAHAINALUNA: Trevor Toshikiyo 0, Harvey Alipio 2, Marko Ljubic 2, Sione Finau 4, Aaron Nava 9, Owen Omiat 2, Maafu Finau 0, Paulo Tuala 9, Tino Finau 21.

KALAHEO: Eric Sandoval 4, Ikaika Alama-Francis 10, Duane Ijima 0, Erin Moorhead 2, D.C. Daniels 23, Nate Ijima 3, Shaydon Marumoto 0, James Robertson 0, Andrew Braley 2, Karl Kuhau-Liftee 0, Adrian Aurelio 6.

3-point goals-Lahainaluna 1 (T. Finau); Kalaheo 4 (Alama-Francis 2, Ijima, Daniels). Rebounds-Lahainaluna 27 (T. Finau 9, Tuala 8); Kalaheo 15 (Daniels 8). Assists-Lahainaluna 6 (T. Finau, S. Finau 2); Kalaheo 10 (D. Ijima 4).

Mililani 71, Kauai 60:

The Trojans (9-7) beat the Red Raiders (6-4) in a consolation bracket game.

Kauai	8 13 19 20-60
Mililani	17 19 18 17-71

KAUAI: Brandon Ramos 0, Bradlee Lum-Tucker 16, Lionel Tomacder 11, Mason Ceria 6, Tyler Kobayashi 2, Jhewiss Cadiente 0, Roger Pillos 16, Marc Matsumura 0, David Medeiros 3, Jason Sahara 0, Jason Kashiwabara 6.

MILILANI: Chad Townsend 14, Daireyon Abrams 0, Lawrence Ching 5, Hoku Potac 3, Justin Grahovac 18, Ian Monongdo 12, Troy Wailehua 0, Edwin Hernandez 0, Taylor Kirihara 0, Andrew Min 0, Kauka Castro 2, Shawn Mida 0, Maurice Johnson 2, Ryan Santos 15.

3-point goals-Kauai 7 (Pillos 4, Tomacder 3); Mililani 5 (Townsend 2, Monongdo, Ching, Potac). Rebounds-Kauai 32 (Lum-Tucker 8, Pillos 7); Mililani 38 (Grahovac 9, Potac, Santos 7). Assists-Kauai 12 (Ceria 4, Lum-Tucker, Pillos 2).

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Tim Crouse contributed to this story.