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A near-perfect third quarter pushed Mililani to its first-ever semifinal appearance in the boys state tournament. States down to final 4 teams
By Tim Crouse and Marc Dixon
tcrouse@starbulletin.com | mdixon@starbulletin.comMililani beat Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion Waiakea 75-58 last night at Kekuhaupio Gym in the Hawaiian Airlines Boys State Basketball Championship quarterfinals.
Mililani meets top-seeded and unbeaten Iolani in the semifinals tonight at the Blaisdell Arena for the right to play in tomorrow night's championship game.
The Trojans went on a 14-2 run to open the second half, erasing a 26-24 lead that the Warriors had carefully built in the first half.
Rashaun Broadus capped the run by feeding a wide-open Mitchell Rose under the basket for an easy score -- while falling out of bounds -- to give Mililani a 38-28 lead with 3:24 left in the third quarter.
At halftime, Mililani coach Michael Coito told his team to get the ball inside more, that the shots would start falling. And they did.
The Trojans scored on 11 of 13 possessions in the third quarter, failing to score twice because of turnovers.
"We're a pretty good second half team," Coito said. "We were cold at times and out of sync (in the first half), but once we told them what we had to run and what they had to do, they started waking up. I told the guys we're just going to keep it close until we get our guns going."
Six different Trojans scored in the third quarter and the pace quickened in a final period that had a combined 53 points. In one stretch, Broadus scored on three straight possessions, with a free throw, a fast-break layup and a pull-up jumper. Rose capped that run with a basket to put the Trojans ahead 60-40.
"Their defensive pressure (was key in the second half)," Waiakea coach Jay Bartholomew said. "We got passive and we had a number of possessions where we just didn't do anything
Broadus scored 15 of his game-high 19 points after intermission to lead Mililani. The senior guard made 8 of 10 shots from the field and added four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Simeon Tavares had 12 points and eight rebounds, with 10 points coming in the first half.
Mililani went on an 8-0 run to close out the first quarter and take a 19-12 lead. But Waiakea rebounded behind four straight points by Charles Huihui and a 3-pointer by Branden Kawazoe. The Warriors hit all eight of their free-throw attempts in the first half.
Kaimuki 44, Lahainaluna 40
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a Cinderella.
Using an aggressive zone defense, tough offensive rebounding and a 14-point performance by sophomore Jimmy Miyasaka, the Kaimuki Bulldogs moved to the final four of the state championships with a 44-40 victory last night over Maui Interscholastic League champion Lahainaluna.
With Wednesday night's heroes, Daniel Tautofi and Jesse Wong struggling, Miyasaka and James Davis, who narrowly missed a double-double, took over as the biggest Bulldogs in the pack.
"This a special team," said coach Stephen Lee. "Daniel and Jesse know that when they're not playing well, Jimmy and James can step it up."
After taking a 20-14 lead into halftime, the Bulldogs watched the Lunas creep back and eventually take the lead on a 3-pointer by Ma'afu Finau. Finau led all scorers with 16 points before fouling out with 26 seconds in the game
But the Bulldogs managed to do the little things. With the game tied at 36, Davis and Miyasaka drew consecutive charges, and Tautofi converted at the offensive end for a 38-36 lead. The game was sealed as Miyasaka converted four free throws in the final minute.
"Coach makes us shoot all the time," said Miyasaka. "He says they win games and I guess they do."
Kaimuki, the OIA fourth-place finisher, will take on defending champion and OIA top seed Kalaheo at 7 p.m. in the Neal Blaisdell Center.
At Radford H.S. gym
Kaimuki (11-4) 7 13 7 17 -- 44 Lahainaluna (13-2) 6 8 14 12 -- 40 KAIMUKI -- Jesse Wong 3, Daniel Tautofi 8, Faaloloi Maiava Jr. 6, Jimmy Miyasaka 14, Alex Lauriano 5, James Davis 8.
LAHAINALUNA -- Cheyne De La Garza 7, Ma'afu Finau 16, Robin Goltze 9, Tevita Finau 4, Richard Murta 4.
3-point goals -- Kaimuki 3 (Wong, Tautofi, Lauiano). Lahainaluna 3 (Finau 2, De La Garza).
Kalaheo 64, Kamehameha 53
In a three-minute span in the first half of last night's victory over Kamehameha, Ikaika Alama-Francis proved why he may be worthy of being this year's Mr. Basketball Hawaii.
Alama-Francis blocked shots, helped bring the ball up against a tough Kamehameha press, grabbed rebounds and reigned three-pointers as he scored nine of the Mustangs' first-quarter points.
Then in the third quarter, last year's co-Mr. Basketball D.C. Daniels made his case. After Alama-Francis posted a 17-point, six-rebound first half, on his way to 23 points and 11 boards, Daniels took over in the second half. In a two-minute span, Daniels blocked a shot, recorded a steal and scored seven consecutive points.
In the fourth quarter it was more D.C. The 6-3 senior scored from the baseline, then hit a jump shot, knocked a ball off the dribbler's foot for a turnover, and converted the turnover into an assist on a bullet feed to Justin Pedrina. After Pedrina missed the bonus free throw, Daniels grabbed the rebound and put it back in. He scored all but two of his points after halftime and finished with 19 points and nine rebounds.
"I just needed to get loose," said Daniels. "I've had some injuries. I started to feel a lot better in the second half."
Kamehameha's full-court press, aggressive man-to-man defense and the triple threat of William Melemai, Nalu Perkins and Eric Shaver kept the Warriors in the contest. Melemai managed a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds while Perkins and Shaver added 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Kamehameha (10-6) 9 13 17 14 -- 53 Kalaheo (14-0) 14 16 17 17 -- 64 KAMEHAMEHA -- Pono Enos 2, Eric Shaver 15, Nalu Perkins 16, Sean Uyehara 5, Caleb Spencer 1, Aaron Kahaloa 2, William Melemai 12.
KALAHEO -- Charles Elliott 3, Michael Gayle 10, James Robertson 5, Shaine Harada 2, Ikaika Alama-Francis 23, Justin Pedrina 2, DC Daniels 19.
3-point goals -- Kamehameha 4 (Perkins 2, Shaver, Uyehara). Kalaheo 5 (Gayle 2, Alama-Francis, C. Elliot, Robertson.
Mililani 75, Waiakea 58
Mililani 19 5 22 29 -- 75 Waiakea 12 14 8 24 -- 58 MILILANI -- Thompson Ah Loo 0, Jordan Woolsey 0, Brandyn Fidel 2, Gary Deliz 11, Rashaun Broadus 19, Robert Cacace 2, Mitchell Rose 6, Jose Santos 1, Andrew Min 0, Trey Brown 6, Alex Patykula 2, Kaipo Patoc 12, Simeon Tavares 14.
WAIAKEA -- Abe Costa 2, Branden Kawazoe 13, Tyler Nishimura 9, Sean Soriano 0, Cody Aragaki 0, Levi Bartholomew 6, Kevin Takeyama 1, Jomo Young 7, Chase Sakamoto 2, Shannon Camero 0, Ronnie Loeffler 0, Martin Hall 3, Justin Pascual 0, Charles Huihui 13, Levi Naehu 2.
3-point goals -- Mililani 0, Waiakea 5 (Nishimura 3, Kawazoe 2).
Iolani 70, Castle 57
The Interscholastic League of Honolulu champions blitzed the Knights with an 18-0 run to open the game. Castle didn't score its first basket until 3:13 remained in the first quarter.
Iolani, which lost to Kalaheo in last season's championship game, led 25-6 after the first quarter and 45-17 at halftime.
All five Iolani starters scored in double figures, with Bobby Nash scoring 16 and Derrick Low and Jon Grobe adding 13 each.
Castle 6 11 17 23 -- 57 Iolani 25 20 12 13 -- 70 CASTLE -- Joel Botelho 21, Emmett Aberilla 9, Ryen Isip 0, Michael Proctor 9, Pookela Craig-Rodenhurst 6, William Harvest 2, Jordan Ukauka 2, Justin Bruhn 6, Charles Teixeira 2, Nelden Torres 0, Tim Wiitala 0.
IOLANI -- Jon Grobe 13, Derrick Low 12, Zach Tollefson 2, Bobby Webster 12, Bronson Melemai 0, Robert Mageo 2, Matt Choy 0, Bobby Nash 16, Joe Udell 2, Chad Miller 0, Kawika Nakoa 0, Gage Eberlin 0, Todd Blankenship 0, Ryan Kilborn 0, Tyler McCready 10, Donny Mateaki 0.
3-point goals -- Castle 3 (Botelho), Iolani 5 (Webster 2, Grobe 2, Low).
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