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Saturday, February 24, 2001

By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Kalaheo's Justin Pedrina flies over St. Louis' Justin
Harris after Pedrina attempted to block a shot from
behind during last night's state semifinal game.

Mustangs,
Raiders in final

Webster's buzzer beater puts
Iolani into tonight's state title
game against top-seeded Kalaheo

---

By Tim Crouse
Special to the Star-Bulletin

Travis McGaughy has fond memories of winning a state championship as an Iolani freshman in 1998.

"I remember it was (against) Kalaheo," said McGaughy, now a senior. "A second win would be even sweeter."

He'll have his chance when Iolani and Kalaheo square off tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center for the Hawaiian Airlines Boys' State Basketball Championship.

McGaughy is now the lone senior for a young Raiders team led by freshman playmaking sensation Derrick Low.

In the '98 final, the Raiders used a lucky bounce in the second overtime to outlast the Mustangs.

In last night's semifinal win against Honokaa, Iolani got another fortuitous play to win at the buzzer. The Raiders squeezed out a 49-47 victory over the Dragons to advance to the title game against the Mustangs.

By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
St. Louis' Brenden Clement, center, loses control of
the ball as he tries to drive between Kalaheo's Ikaika
Alama-Francis, left, and Skyler Wilson.

Kalaheo beat St. Louis, 52-44, yesterday in the first semifinal.

Top-seeded Kalaheo and No. 2 seed Iolani met in the preseason -- with Kalaheo winning.

"We just weren't ready for them," Iolani junior Tyler McCready said. "But now with all the preparation we've gone through and all the close games we've been through, I think we'll be able to pull it off."

Said Low: "We have to play great defense. We have to stop Ikaika (Alama-Francis) from shooting, Skyler (Wilson) from penetrating and we have to get D.C. (Daniels) off the offensive boards."

Iolani coach Mark Mugiishi said the Raiders have to do a better job of attacking Kalaheo's pressure defense.

"I think we're better at it than we were (in preseason) because we've had a chance to play an excellent defensive team in St. Louis a couple of times," Mugiishi said.

Yesterday's semifinals:

Iolani 49, Honokaa 47: Bobby Webster scored the winning basket for the second time in as many nights, denying the Dragons (14-1) their first championship game appearance.

The junior swooped in to score on a missed shot by Low as time expired.

On Thursday, Webster scored the winning basket against Leilehua in overtime on a fast break after Low made a steal.

Yesterday, a bucket by Honokaa senior guard Austin Souza was waved off with 33 seconds left when he was called for a charge.

Iolani (13-1) stalled for the last shot, and called two timeouts, the second with just 12 seconds left.

With time running down, Tyler McCready whipped a 30-foot pass to Low, who had broken free a few feet in front of the hoop.

Low missed the layup but Webster was there for the putback as time expired.

"I was supposed to get the backdoor alley-oop, but I got it kind of late and just tried to throw it up," Low said. "It caught a lucky bounce and Bobby Webster finished."

The Dragons fought back from a 43-37 deficit in the fourth quarter, tying the game at 47-all on a driving layup by Souza with 2:28 left.

Iolani turned the ball over its next two possessions, with a Honokaa missed shot sandwiched in between, and then Souza was called for the charge.

Low finished with 20 points, four assists and four steals. McCready chipped in nine points and nine rebounds.

Souza paced Honokaa with 12 points, four assists and three steals.

The Dragons made six 3-pointers and shot better from beyond the arc -- 40 percent -- than they did from the field -- 37.8 percent.

Honokaa	16 10 11 10 -- 47
Iolani	18 15 8 8 -- 49

HONOKAA: Derek Gabriel 3-10 3-3 11, Kaniela Aiona 3-8 0-0 7, Ryan Cann 0-0 0-0 0, Austin Souza 4-5 2-3 12, Erwin Valenzuela 0-0 0-0 0, Kenny Ruiz 3-8 0-0 7, Edward Aldridge 4-14 2-4 10. Totals 17-45 7-10 47.
IOLANI: Derrick Low 8-13 4-5 20, Travis McGaughy 1-7 0-0 2, Bobby Webster 4-10 0-0 9, Robert Mageo 0-0 0-0 0, Bronson Melemai 0-1 0-0 0, Bobby Nash 4-10 1-2 9, Tyler McCready 4-5 1-2 9, Joe Udell 0-1 0-0 0, Jon Grobe 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-47 6-9 49.
3-point goals--Honokaa 6-15 (Gabriel 2-4, Souza 2-2, Ruiz 1-2, Aiona 1-1, Aldridge 0-6), Iolani 1-9 (Webster 1-4, McGaughy 0-3, Low 0-1, Melemai 0-1). Rebounds--Honokaa 20 (Aiona 7), Iolani 34 (McCready 9). Assists--Honokaa 10 (Souza 4), Iolani 9 (Low 4). Turnovers--Honokaa 11, Iolani 18. Total fouls--Honokaa 12, Iolani 13. Technicals--Honokaa 1 (bench). A--2,605.

Kalaheo 52, St. Louis 44: D.C. Daniels made a clutch jump shot in the paint with 1:25 remaining to give the Mustangs a 47-44 lead.

The Crusaders (13-5) missed a layup and then a 3-point attempt before Alama-Francis sealed the game with two free throws with 29 seconds left.

Daniels finished with a game-high 16 points and 10 rebounds.

The junior guard went to the bench with his fourth foul with three minutes left in the third quarter, and reserve Keoki Duarte picked up the slack -- grabbing two offensive rebounds and scoring on three straight possessions.

Skyler Wilson joined Daniels on the bench with four fouls with 4:52 left and Kalaheo leading 44-40.

"We were going to try to stay in the game (without them) as long as we could and we did a pretty good job," Mustangs' coach Pete Smith said. "Keoki made some great shots and Justin Pedrina came in and played great defense."

St. Louis managed to cut the lead to one while the two stars sat for almost a minute and a half.

The Crusaders had a chance to take the lead with three minutes left, but missed a layup.

St. Louis shot just 34 percent and turned the ball over 16 times.

The Mustangs (15-0) trailed most of the first half and went two long stretches without scoring.

But they turned up their defensive intensity in the second half, forcing 11 turnovers.

"We didn't handle it as good as we wanted to," St. Louis coach Delbert Tengan said. "We rushed some stuff. They (went) up-tempo and we lost some composure."

Kalaheo took a 27-26 lead two minutes into the second half on a Wilson 3-pointer and the lead changed hands three more times before Alama-Francis drained a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to put the Mustangs ahead, 40-38.

St. Louis	15 10 11 8 -- 44
Kalaheo	13 8 16 15 -- 52

ST. LOUIS: Bobby Tappy 2-2 0-0 4, Brenden Clement 3-6 0-0 6, Jose Vidad 1-5 0-0 2, Justin Harris 3-11 6-8 12, Jonah Lakatani 0-0 0-0 0, T.J. Moe 0-1 0-0 0, J.P. Kanoa 2-5 0-2 4, Jason Rivers 3-7 4-6 12, Frank Rivers 1-6 0-0 2, Arist De Wolff 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 16-47 10-16 44.
KALAHEO: C.J. Kaimiola 0-0 0-0 0, Skyler Wilson 3-9 6-8 13, James Robertson 0-0 0-0 0, Nate Ijima 0-2 0-0 0, Shaydon Marumoto 3-5 0-0 6, Ikaiak Alama-Francis 3-11 2-5 9, Aubrey Bradley 0-0 0-1 0, Justin Pedrina 0-1 0-1 0, D.C. Daniels 6-9 4-7 16, Keoki Duarte 3-6 2-4 8, Kiona Siliga 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-43 14-26 52.
3-point goals--St. Louis 2-5 (J. Rivers 2-4, Vidad 0-1), Kalaheo 2-9 (Alama-Francis 1-5, Wilson 1-2, Ijima 0-1, Duarte 0-1). Rebounds--St. Louis 34 (Harris 6), Kalaheo 31 (Daniels 10). Assists--St. Louis 10 (J. Rivers 4), Kalaheo 8 (Marumoto 3). Turnovers--St. Louis 16, Kalaheo 14. Total fouls--St. Louis 23, Kalaheo 14. Fouled out--J. Rivers, J.P. Kanoa.

Consolation games

Leilehua 70, Mililani 57: Eric Marshall scored 20 points and Clifton Feliciano added 14 as the Mules (13-2) avenged an OIA semifinal loss to the Trojans (11-5).

Mililani	11 15 9 22 -- 57
Leilehua	21 13 17 19 -- 70

MILILANI: Gary Deliz 4, Koji Price 0, Rashaun Broadus 19, Troy Wailehua 0, Alex Aguda 0, William Broadus 15, Andrew Min 0, Hoku Patoc 4, Chad DeMello 0, Kaipo Patoc 11, Maurice Johnson 0, Trey Brown 4.
LEILEHUA: Garland Gantt 18, Lance Tuggle 0, Ricardo Bachelor 4, Joshua Jumawan 10, Eric Marshall 20, Clifton Feliciano 14, Shaun Fetzer 0, Demitrius Washington 0, Mike Helgerson 2, Andrew Talaeai 0, John Dolac 0, Reuben Dix 2, Duon Adams 0, Nicky Lenzy 0.
3-point goals--Mililani 6 (R. Broadus 3, W. Broadus 2, K. Patoc), Leilehua 5 (Feliciano 3, Jumawan 2).

Punahou 59, Maui 48: The Buffanblu (12-4) beat the Sabers (13-6) to advance to the fifth-place game against the Mules behind 22 points from Dane Uperesa and 19 from Richard Kim.

Maui	11 12 11 14 -- 48
Punahou	15 14 15 15 -- 59

MAUI: Shaun-Ryan Batson 3, Kalae Medeiros 0, Dio Dante 5, Cheyne De La Garza 8, Robinson Agdinaday 0, Rhoderick Bulosan 2, Gdansk Corpin 0, Maika Brown 5, Kynan Metoyer 2, Brandon Chun 0, David Tufaga 6, Kevin Wunder 4, Les Johnson 10, Dana Anderson 3.
PUNAHOU: Kynan Pang 0, Richard Kim 19, Daniel Lam 0, Andrew Amigleo 0, Todd LaFountaine 0, Jason Ching 0, John Freese 0, Alex Fergus 4, David Dowsett 4, David Kowen 2, Lucas Love 6, Ryan Zabriskie 2, Dane Uperesa 22.
3-point goals--Maui 5 (De La Garza 2, Batson, Brown, Wunder), Punahou 3 (Kim 3).

Baldwin 59, Kapaa 45: Cliff Dagulo scored 16 points in the Bears' (14-4) win over the Warriors (6-5), and play in the consolation championship game today against Kahuku.

Baldwin	13 20 11 15 -- 59
Kapaa	10 11 16 8 -- 45

BALDWIN: Efren Dasay 4, A.J. Garbin 7, Jon Ciacci 5, Sam Tolutau 3, Cliff Dagulo 16, Reed Suzuki 2, Michael Donahoo 3, Akamu Aki 5, Alika Amasui 4, Rodney Kekahuna 0, Brandon Ahonima 6, Kealoha Range 2, Kaipo Mahuna 2, Kepa Akiu 0.
KAPAA: Kaili Panui 2, Garrett Danner 7, Allen Iloreta 0, Ryhan Greenleaf 5, Chris Lary 6, Kapu Hendrickson 12, Ed Roessler 0, Kekoa Chun 8, Asher Cole 0, Austin Maka Alapai 4, Jeffrey Giminez 1.
3-point goals--Baldwin 0, Kapaa 0.

Kahuku 70, Waiakea 57: Four players scored in double figures to help the Red Raiders (10-6) came back from a 20-8 first-half deficit and beat the Warriors (10-5).

Kahuku	8 16 30 16 -- 70
Waiakea	20 8 15 14 -- 57

KAHUKU: Trumaine Oto 0, Ferron Fonoimoana 0, Phillip Alisa 14, Aaron Francisco 11, Anthony Hill 13, Inoke Funaki 4, Micah Casey 18, James Kammerer 8, Jarom Casey 0, Adonis Buttel 0, Tala Esera 0, Tu Tui 0, Viliami Nauahi 0, Jonathan Mapu 2, Quin Ah you 0.
WAIAKEA: Aaron Tengan 14, Brandon Kawazoe 7, Sean Soriano 0, Abaraham Costa 2, David Hotniansky 5, Evan Bartholomew 0, Kevin Takayama 6, Chase Sakamoto 0, Matt Hall 3, Jomo Young 3, Martin Hall 0, Jason Agliam 2, Levi Bartholomew 3, Kelii Pomroy 2, Levi Naehu 10.
3-point goals--Kahuku 4 (Hill 3, Funaki), Waiakea 6 (Tengan 2, Naehu 2, Kawazoe, L. Bartholomew).

State Boys' Basketball Today's championship game At Stan Sheriff Center Kalaheo vs. Iolani, 8 p.m. Third-place game St. Louis vs. Honokaa, 6:15 p.m. Fifth-place game Punahou vs. Leilehua, 4:45 p.m. Consolation championship Kahuku vs. Baldwin, 5:15 p.m. Yesterday's semifinals Iolani 49, Honokaa 47 Kalaheo 52, St. Louis 44 Yesterday's consolations Leilehua 70, Mililani 57 Punahou 59, Maui 48 Baldwin 59, Kapaa 45 Kahuku 70, Waiakea 57