RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Mililani's Mikhail Mabry drove through traffic during the first half last night against Radford.
A raucous Mililani crowd couldn't keep Radford from ending the Trojans' long basketball winning streak last night. Radford holds on
in battle of unbeatensBy Nick Abramo
nabramo@starbulletin.comDespite going 5-for-10 at the free-throw line in the final 72 seconds, the Rams showed poise at crunch time and held off a last-gasp Mililani comeback bid for a 44-40 Oahu Interscholastic Association West Division victory.
The Trojans had not lost an OIA West game since 2001, after going 10-0 a year ago and starting off 4-0 this year. Radford improved to 5-0 in the league.
Fans yelled "choke, choke, choke" nearly every time a Rams player stepped to the line, but Radford didn't buckle.
"I wasn't worried about the crowd, and they were pretty loud," Radford's Joshua Auelua said. "We played our game and stayed patient at the end."
Auelua finished with 10 points, all of which came in the first half, but he contributed in the final three minutes with a steal and a defensive rebound.
"He's our unsung hero," Radford coach Kai Enos said. "He does all of the rubbish stuff -- the things that people, even the other kids on the team, don't see, like rebounding and assists and steals and defense. Some kids think it's only points that matter."
The Rams had what looked like a safe 41-34 lead with just more than a minute left, but the Trojans' Puna Neumann hit a 3-pointer and an 18-footer to trim the deficit to 42-40.
Radford's Tauran Moore, who had a team-high 12 points, wrapped up the victory by hitting two free throws with five seconds to go.
"We practice free throws and take them very seriously," Enos said. "Sometimes the kids don't know just how serious free throws can be. Maybe after a game like tonight, they'll understand just how important they are."
The lead changed hands five times by the early second quarter until Radford started to take control. Charles Seanior's 3-point swish and Moore's long jumper started the Rams on a 12-4 run that gave them a 24-16 halftime lead.
Flashy shooting guard Brandyn Fidel scored all but four of Mililani's first-half points on a variety of drives and jumpers. He only scored three points in the second half, but still finished with a game-high 15.
The Trojans owned the third quarter, thanks to the fiery play of forward Simeon Tavares. He willed his team back into the contest with the final six points of the period for a 35-31 deficit.
"This was by far the most intense game of our season so far," Tavares said. "The loss was disappointing because we wanted to go undefeated. But it's still early in the season and we have a lot to do, like working on passing it around and setting up the offense. We had the wrong people shooting at the end and I can blame myself for not grabbing rebounds when it counted."
At Mililani H.S. gym
Radford 9 15 11 9 -- 44 Mililani 8 8 15 9 -- 40 RADFORD--Jordan Rellin 2, Mike Davis 6, Charles Seanior 6, Joshua Auelua 10, Martin Lara 8, Tauran Moore 12, La Michael Hawkins 0.
MILILANI--Zack Anduha 0, Aaron Kanno 0, Puna Neumann 7, Brandyn Fidel 15, Clarence Gray 0, Andrew Tokumi 3, Alex Patykula 6, Tony Gabriel 0, Simeon Tavares 9, Mikhail Mabry 0.
3-point goals--Radford 3 (Seanior, Auelua, Moore); Mililani 3 (Neumann, Fidel, Tavares).
Kapolei 50, Aiea 49: Warren Simanu hit a jumper from just inside the free throw line with five seconds left to give the Hurricanes the lead. Aiea had a chance to steal the game after that, but Samson Chun's desperation 3-pointer went awry. E.J. Anton and Bradley Padayao led the Hurricanes with 11 points each.
At Aiea H.S. gym
Kapolei (2-3) 8 15 11 16 -- 50 Aiea (3-3) 11 9 16 13 -- 49 KAPOLEI--E.J. Aton 11, Daniel Mann 0, Justin Hollins 2, Keith Albano 0, Jefferson Gaygay 3, Aaron Lewis 0, Zach Vierra 0, Kaipo Enhada 10, Roland Mason 2, Bradley Padayao 11, Hector Malazarte 3, Warren Simanu 8.
AIEA--Ian Delacuesta 0, Samson Chung 16, Timur Sabitov 4, Kelii Kekona 0, James Hadley 8, Gary Molina 2, Jonathan Burgos 0, Levi Wyman 6, RJ Kiesel-Kauhane 13, Rocky Savaiigaea 0 .
3-point goals -- Kapolei 1 (Enhada); Aiea 4 (Chung 2, Hadley 2).
Junior Varsity -- Aiea 35, Kapolei 29
Kaimuki 52, Kalaheo 42: Daniel Tautofi scored a game-high 25 points -- including 12 in the second half -- as the Bulldogs used an 11-4 advantage in the final period to hold off Kalaheo in what was a close contest until the last quarter.
At Kalaheo H.S. gym
Kaimuki (5-0) 16 13 12 11 -- 52 Kalaheo (3-2) 12 10 16 4 -- 42 KAIMUKI--Richy Miyasaka 8, Daniel Tautofi 25, Isaiah Ano 2, Jimmy Miyasaka 6, Jon Torres 2, James Davis 4, Nick Milan 5.
KALAHEO--Aaron Luis 0, Christopher Tumaneng 0, Matthew Nakashima 0, Theodore Fujita-Lukachyk 14, William Elliot 3, Zane Cabral 16, Neil Bowers 1, David Moore 0, Jeremy Neufeldt 0, Sam Wilhoite 8.
3-point goals -- Kaimuki 2 (Tautofi 2); Kalaheo 4 (Fujita-Lukachyk 2, Cabral, Elliot).
Junior varsity -- Kaimuki 48, Kalaheo 41
Castle 57, Kalani 45: Castle outscored Kalani 25-15 in the fourth quarter to break open a close contest. The Knights' William Harvest scored seven of his 10 points in the final period.
At Kalani H.S. gym
Castle (6-0) 11 11 10 25 -- 57 Kalani (0-5) 10 9 11 15 -- 45 CASTLE--John Ufuti 0, Bryan Pelangka 6, Emmett Aberilla 6, Kevin Brooks 2, Terry Mendez-Kema 6, William Harvest 10, Jordan Ukauka 5, Kurtis Kanekoa 5, Charles Teixeira 13, Antone Watanabe 4, Soli Lefiti 0.
KALANI--Jerry Wang 0, Kellen Kashiwa 4, Carson Chun 7, Dustin Umeda 18, Chad Lum 0, Cory Konishi 6, True St. Thomas 4, Teetai Ane 0, Zach Felipe 0, Mark Bonner 1, Jason Deguzman 5.
3-point goals -- Castle 6 (Harvest 2, Pelangka 2, Aberilla, Ukauka); Kalani 4 (Umeda 4).
Junior Varsity -- Castle 57, Kalani 19
Roosevelt 61, McKinley 47: The Red Raiders trailed by two points at the half, but broke the game open by outscoring the Tigers 22-10 in the third period.
At McKinley H.S. gym
Roosevelt (6-0) 10 10 22 19 -- 61 McKinley (2-4) 4 18 10 15 -- 47 ROOSEVELT--Shane Kamakura 2, Bryson Borges 21, Ryan Keomaka 16, James Castro 0, Daniel Ki 0, Daniel Balbas 3, Anthony Holyfield 17, Ricky Eusebio 0, Danton Balbas 2.
MCKINLEY--Mark Nakatsuka 2, Abel Werner 10, Joshua Bumanglag 11, Iaokopo Taumua 7, Robert Holder 7, Isaiah Iaea 6, Elliot Twiggs 0, Anapuni Coleman 4, Quinton Sayers 0.
3-point goals -- Roosevelt 5 (Keomaka 4, Borges); McKinley 4 (Bumanglag 2, Holder, Taumua).
Junior varsity -- Roosevelt 43, McKinley 39
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