Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Thursday, February 22, 2001

By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Mililani's Trey Brown, left, grapples with Baldwin's
Alika Amasui during last night's state tournament game.

Punahou
advances to play
Kalaheo

Mililani rallies to edge Baldwin;
St. Louis and Leilehua also advance
in opening round of state
basketball tournament

---

By Tim Crouse
Special to the Star-Bulletin

The last time Kalaheo and Punahou met in the postseason it was for a state championship.

Today, the two Oahu rivals square off in the quarterfinals of the Hawaiian Airlines Boys' State Basketball Championships.

Punahou overcame a slow start in the opening round yesterday to beat Kahuku, 60-55, and set up the meeting with the unbeaten Mustangs at 7:30 p.m. at McCabe Gym.

Punahou, which finished second in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, is upset that the seedings have them facing the top seed, while St. Louis -- which finished below Punahou in the ILH standings -- is paired against No. 4 seed Maui (13-4).

"I wish we could have met Maui, but we have to go through them sometime," Buffanblu senior Richard Kim said.

Maui and St. Louis play at 6 p.m. in the other game at McCabe Gym today. No. 2 Iolani and Leilehua battle at 6 p.m. at McKinley and No. 3 Honokaa and Mililani wrap up the quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m.

Punahou beat Kalaheo in overtime to win the 1999 state title.

None of the juniors or seniors on this year's Punahou team played in that game, but they did get a taste of how tough it is to take on Kalaheo when the two teams met in the preseason.

In the finale of the Kalaheo FILA Classic on Dec. 2, the Mustangs rolled to an 83-62 victory.

"We'll come out ready (today), we just have to handle their pressure," Kim said. "That's what killed us the first game. They got all their points off turnovers."

Said Punahou coach Alan Lum: "Their defense gives them some easy buckets that gives them some leads. It makes the other team take some chances and they capitalize on those chances."

Yesterday against Kahuku, Punahou (11-3) missed its first five shots while the Red Raiders (9-6) made six of their first nine.

Kahuku led 23-15 mid-way through the second quarter, but Andrew Amigleo scored four of his eight points in the last couple minutes to cut Punahou's deficit to 28-24 at halftime.

"I'm glad we were only down four (considering) how badly we played," said Kim. "We knew we could do it because we bounced back before."

Kim got the Buffanblu going in the second half by drilling a three-pointer and converting two steals into fast-break baskets. He hit another trey in the quarter and finished the game with 12 points.

Punahou took a 30-28 lead on a pair of Lucas Love free throws and never trailed again, although Kahuku did tie the game at 45-all in the fourth quarter on a trey by Inoke Funaki.

Aaron Francisco kept the Red Raiders close, scoring 10 of his team-high 17 points in the second half.

Alex Fergus paced Punahou with 13 points.

Punahou shot 43 percent in the game and made 15-of-26 free throws. Kahuku shot 44 percent, but connected on just three-of-12 free throw attempts.

Punahou	9	15	21	15 -- 60
Kahuku	14	14	14	13 -- 55

PUNAHOU: Kynan Pang 6, Richard Kim 12, David Kowen 5, Lucas Love 5, Dane Uperesa 4, Daniel Lam 0, Andrew Amigleo 8, Jason Ching 0, Alex Fergus 13, Ryan Zabriskie 7, David Dowsett 0, John Freese 0.

KAHUKU: Phillip Alisa 8, Aaron Francisco 17, Inoke Funaki 8, James Kammerer 4, Micah Casey 2, Adonis Buttel 4, Jonathan Mapu 8, Anthony Hill 4, Trumaine Oto 0, Ferron Fonoimoana 0, Tala Esera 0, Quin Ah-You 0.

3-point goals--Punahou 4 (Kim 2, Kowen, Amigleo), Kahuku 4 (Alisa 2, Funaki 2).

St. Louis 54, Waiakea 39:

Justin Harris had a huge game and the Crusaders turned on their pressure defense in the second half to defeat the Warriors (10-4) in the opening game at McKinley's gym.

Harris scored 17 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, had four blocks and four steals and dished out three assists for St. Louis.

The Crusaders (12-4) used their full-court press to spur an 11-2 run midway through the third quarter, erasing a 25-23 Warriors lead. St. Louis forced 13 turnovers in the quarter.

Jason and Frank Rivers combined for 21 more points for the Crusaders, who meet No. 4 seed Maui (15-2) today at 6 p.m.

Waiakea	9	12	6	12 -- 39
St. Louis	14	7	15	18 -- 54

WAIAKEA: Aaron Tengan 0, Branden Kawazoe 3, Sean Soriano 0, Abraham Costa 4, David Hotniansky 0, Evan Bartholomew 2, Kevin Takayama 4, Jomo Young 8, Martin Hall 8, Kelii Pomroy 10, Levi Naehu 0.

ST. LOUIS: Bobby Tappy 2, Brenden Clement 0, Jose Vidad 5, Justin Harris 17, Jonah Lakatani 3, T.J. Moe 0, J.P. Kanoa 4, Jason Rivers 11, Frank Rivers 10, Arist de Wolff 0.

3-point goals--Waiakea 2 (Kawazoe, Takayama), St. Louis

Mililani 42, Baldwin 41:

At McCabe Gym, William Broadus sank two free throws with under five seconds left to lift the Trojans to a comeback win over the Bears.

Hoku Patoc intercepted Baldwin's desperation pass as time ran out to seal the win.

"I felt we were outplayed the whole game," Mililani coach Michael Coito said. "They were very disciplined. I feel fortunate to get out with a win."

The Bears (13-4) -- who reached the semifinals last year -- led by as many as eight points in the first half, but the Trojans (11-3) trimmed the deficit to 24-22 at halftime.

Mililani plays No. 3 seed Honokaa (13-0) today at 6 p.m. at McCabe Gym.

"We have to run our offense better against Honokaa," Coito said. "We have to quit turning the ball over."

Baldwin	10	14	9	8 -- 41
Mililani	12	10	7	13 -- 42

BALDWIN: Efren Oasay 0, A.J. Garbin 4, Jon Ciacci 4, Sam Tolutau 0, Cliff Dagulo 11, Reed Suzuki 0, Michael Donahoo 0, Akamu Aki 0, Alika Amashi 8, Rodney Kekahuna 0, Brandon Ahonima 5, Kealoha Range 9, Kaipo Mahuna 0, Kepa Akiu 0.

MILILANI: Gary Deliz 0, Koji Price 0, Rashaun Broadus 9, Troy Wailehua 0, Alex Aguda 0, William Broadus 10, Andrew Min 0, Hoku Patoc 6, Kaipo Patoc 9, Chad DeMello 0, Maurice Johnson 0, Trey Brown 8.

3-point goals--Baldwin 1 (Dagulo), Mililani 4 (R. Broadus 2, K. Patoc, Brown).

Leilehua 70, Kapaa 49:

The Mules slowly built their lead up through three quarters, then put the Warriors away with a 22-point fourth.

Leilehua (12-1) got balanced scoring, with Garland Gantt leading the way with 19 points and Eric Marshall adding 16 more.

Rhyan Greenleaf paced Kapaa (6-4) with 12 points.

Leilehua plays second-seeded Iolani in the nightcap at McKinley.

The Raiders beat the Mules, 61-47, on Dec. 8 in the James Alegre Invitational semifinals.

Leilehua	18	13	17	22 -- 70
Kapaa	12	12	13	12 -- 49

LEILEHUA: Duon Adams 0, Ricardo Bachelor 4, Reuben Dix 0, John Dolac 3, Clifton Feliciano 11, Shaun Fetzer 2, Garland Gantt 19, Mike Helgerson 7, Joshua Jumawan 6, Nick Lenzy 0, Eric Marshall 16, Andrew Talaeai 0, Lance Tuggle 0, Demitrius Washington 2.

KAPAA: Kaili Panui 3, Garrett Danner 3, Allen Iloreta 0, Rhyan Greenleaf 12, Chris Lary 3, Kapu Hendrickson 11, Ed Roessler 0, Kekoa Chun 8, Asher Cole 1, Austin Maka Alapai 6, Jeffrey Gimenez 2.

3-point goals--Leilehua 1 (Feliciano), Kapaa 1 (Hendrickson).

---

Hawaii School Web Sites