GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kalaheo's Sam Wilhoite took a shot against Leilehua last night.
Pete Smith described his coaching staff as a bunch of teachers last night after his Kalaheo Mustangs dominated the Leilehua Mules and rolled to a 61-43 victory in the Oahu Interscholastic Association championship basketball game at Blaisdell Arena. Kalaheo beats Leilehua
for third straight OIA titleThe Mustangs top the Mules
61-43 to enter next week's
state tournament on a rollBy Nick Abramo
nabramo@starbulletin.comThe players are good learners. With an influx of new kids this year, the Mustangs weren't expected to go too far, especially after suffering three losses in the regular season. The Mustangs have won three OIA titles in a row and 14 of the last 20.
"This is a good group of kids," Smith said during the postgame ceremonies. "They're not big and they're not the most talented we've had, but they work their butts off. They set the championship as one of their goals, and that was tough to ask for a team like this to carry on the tradition. We stubbed our toes early in the season, but we learned some things and made adjustments."
Sam Wilhoite, Kalaheo's 6-foot-7 center, dominated the defensive boards and made it difficult for Leilehua to penetrate. He finished with 18 points, including eight in the fourth quarter when the Mustangs (11-3) left the Mules (11-2) in the dust.
"Sweet," the junior said when asked how he felt about winning the title. "We won it last year with a dominant team. But this is really sweet winning another with a fresh new team."
The Mustangs shrugged off a horrendous start with a high-flying second quarter to take a 25-18 halftime lead. After trailing 11-5 after the first period, Kalaheo went on a 16-4 run to start the second.
Zane Cabral, the hero who hit a last second 3-pointer to beat Kaimuki in Wednesday's semifinal, Wilhoite and Theodore Fujita-Lukachyk each hit for five points in the pivotal quarter.
The Leilehua offense never clicked after the first period, when Demetrius Washington fired home two 3-pointers and had eight of his team's 11 points.
"We didn't shoot well," Mules coach Keith Spencer said. "Kalaheo did. They hit the big shots and we didn't, and we were horrible on free throws. Our offense was impatient, but our defense played hard all night, and Kalaheo won the game fair and square."
Kalaheo expanded its lead to 40-30 after three quarters and made 13 free throws to account for more than half of its 21 fourth-quarter points. Fujita-Lukachyk hit two treys in the third.
"We have a system that we've been running all these years," Smith said. "We run the same thing and it's not hard to do when you've had the same staff for 15 years.
"Sam (Wilhoite) knew we needed him to dominate the glass and he did it tonight. Defensively, he protected the bucket."
Wilhoite and the rest of the Mustangs will be preparing for next week's state tournament. The Mules will also be making an appearance.
"Our chances at the states are as good as anybody's," Wilhoite said. "There's some strong teams, but hopefully we'll do some damage."
At Blaisdell Arena
Kalaheo (11-3) 5 20 15 21 -- 61 Leilehua (11-2) 11 7 12 13 -- 43 KALAHEO -- Aaron Luis 0, Christopher Tumaneng 0, Matthew Nakashima 2, Nicholas Heldreth 0, Theodore Fujita-Lukachyk 14, Nate Shields 0, William Elliott 0, Zane Cabral 13, Neil Bowers 3, Joshua Perry 0, David Moore 10, Jeremy Neufeldt 0, Edward Lee 1, Ryan Belles 0, Sam Wilhoite 18.
LEILEHUA -- Andrew Talaeai 6, Demetrius Washington 10, Larry McCrum 1, Tyrell Couch 11, Angelo Massey 7, Antonio Carter 5, Joshua Fetters 0, Zacarias Rivera 0, Anthony Hall 0, Angel Fontanez 3, Jonathan Scruggs 0, Jostin Repollo 0.
3-point goals -- Kalaheo 5 (Fujita-Lukachyk 3, Cabral, Bowers), Leilehua 4 (Washington 2, Couch, Massey).
KAIMUKI 68, MILILANI 51: The Bulldogs, who were left in a daze Wednesday night in a last-second semifinal loss, came out energized and took it to the Trojans (9-5) in the OIA third-place game.
Jimmy Miyasaka scored 15 of his 26 points in the final period for the Bulldogs, who led just 49-41 after three quarters. Miyasaka hit two of his four treys in the final eight minutes.
Daniel Tautofi, who finished with a game-high 29 points for the Bulldogs (11-2), started Kaimuki's final 17-8 run with a three-pointer.
At Blaisdell Arena
Mililani 8 18 15 10 -- 51 Kaimuki 21 10 18 19 -- 68 MILILANI -- Zac Anduha 4, Lorenzo Abernathy 0, Aaron Kanno 3, Puna Newman 0, Brandyn Fidel 13, Jordan Woolsey 3, Clarence Gray 0, Andrew Tokumi 3, Alex Patykula 19, Tony Gabriel 4, Mikhail Mabry 2.
KAIMUKI -- Davey Nguyen 0, Richy Miyasaka 0, Daniel Tautofi 29, Isaiah Ano 0, Junior Maiava 3, Jimmy Miyasaka 26, Nick Milan 10, Herb Lee 0, Dexter Tautofi 0, James Davis 0, John Torres 0.
3-point goals--Mililani 7 (Fidel 3, Patykula 2, Tokumi, Woolsey), Kaimuki 8 (J. Miyasaka 4, Da. Tautofi 3, Milan).
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