[ HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS ]

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No. 2 seed Kalaheo escapes
with win over Kaimuki

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By Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.com

With its hopes of a second straight state title in jeopardy, Kalaheo rode its two strongest horses to a 53-51 win over Kaimuki last night at Blaisdell Arena.

Ikaika Alama-Francis and D.C. Daniels scored 20 of the Mustangs' 23 second-half points to lead them to tonight's final of the Hawaiian Airlines Boys State Championship Tournament against Iolani.

"I wanted the ball and D.C. wanted the ball," Alama-Francis said. "I think we did that and hit some big shots and came out with the victory."

"We finally settled down and got the ball where we needed to get the ball," Kalaheo coach Pete Smith said. "We were impatient and took a bunch of bad shots and they settled down."

The senior duo's heroics might have been in vain had Kaimuki not missed two shots to tie the game in the last five seconds. Both came up short, giving Kalaheo the opportunity to defend its state championship tonight.

"That's all we wanted, we had the last shot," Kaimuki coach Stephen Lee said.

Kaimuki, which lost to Kalaheo by 41 points on Feb. 2, battled back from an early deficit to take the lead in the third quarter.

But Alama-Francis scored nine of his game-high 21 points in the final period to give Kalaheo the win.

His jumper along the left baseline with 35 seconds left in the game gave Kalaheo a 52-50 lead. He also hit a free throw with 6.8 seconds left to give the Mustangs a three-point advantage.

"I knew they were going to give it to him," Lee said. "I told the guys to make sure to double down on Ikaika when he got the ball, but he made some big shots."

It looked like the Mustangs might cruise into the final after making eight of their first 11 shots to take a 19-6 lead in the first quarter.

But Kaimuki, which upset Punahou and Lahainaluna to get to the semifinal, fought back with a 12-0 run and cut the Kalaheo lead to 19-18 on a jumper by Jesse Wong early in the second period.

"We battled so much this state tournament and I knew they were going to fight back," Lee said. "It was just a matter of settling down."

Kalaheo reestablished control at the end of half as Daniels hit for six points to give the Mustangs a 30-23 lead at intermission.

But Kaimuki stunned the Mustangs by opening the third quarter with an 11-2 run to take a 34-32 lead.

Daniels responded with a 3-pointer and Alama-Francis hit a jumper to give Kalaheo a 37-36 lead entering the fourth quarter.

The Mustangs stayed a step ahead of the Bulldogs for most of the period. But Kaimuki tied the game at 50 with a minute left on a shot by Jimmy Miyasaka.

After Alama-Francis gave the Mustangs the lead, Daniel Tautofi went to the free throw line for two shots with the Bulldogs trailing 53-50.

Tautofi made the first but missed the second. Kaimuki's James Davis pulled down the rebound, but his shot came up short. Tautofi's shot at the buzzer also fell out.

"It was a tough victory. We have to go home, get a good rest and come out ready to play," Daniels said. "Whatever team we play I'm sure it's going to be a great game."

FIFTH-PLACE BRACKET

Castle 71, Waiakea 51: Michael Proctor scored 16 points as the Knights eliminated the BIIF champion Warriors.

Kamehameha 54, Lahainaluna 51 (OT): Eric Shaver's 3-pointer with 2:09 left in overtime proved to be the difference as the Warriors advanced to face Castle in today's fifth-place game.

CONSOLATION BRACKET

Baldwin 37, Waimea 28: Akamu Aki scored 11 points to lead the Bears to today's consolation final.

Waimea's Jordon Dizon scored 14 of Waimea's 16 first-half points and led all scorers with 20 points.

Punahou 78, Kealakehe 58: Kynan Pang and Dane Uperesa combined to score 38 points to lead the Buffanblu over the Waveriders.

Kealakehe's Ely Sather closed his career by hitting for a game-high 28 points.

Hawaiian Airlines Boys State Basketball Championship Tournament

TODAY

Consolation final
Baldwin vs. Punahou, 3 p.m.

Fifth-place
Castle vs. Kamehameha, 4:30 p.m.

Third-place
Kaimuki vs. Mililani, 6 p.m.

Championship
Kalaheo vs. Iolani, 8 p.m.

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