[ STATE BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP ]
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Iolani's Derrick Low, who was named tournament MVP, sliced past Saint Louis' Desmond Hanohano for two.
Iolani repeats The promise of an intense state basketball championship final vanished in the first quarter last night as the Iolani Raiders repeated as champions with a 61-37 victory over Saint Louis.
with 61-37 win
The Raiders jump ahead
early to beat the CrusadersBy Nick Abramo
nabramo@starbulletin.com
The poised Raiders took advantage of the Crusaders' early lack of intensity and poor shooting and jumped out to a 16-7 lead after one period. That early run was just what the doctor ordered and it catapulted Iolani to the blowout victory in front of 4,741 fans at Blaisdell Arena.
MVP: Derrick Low (Iolani) All-Tournament Team
>> Jason Rivers (Saint Louis)
>> Maafu Finau (Maui)
>> Samuel Wilhoite (Kalaheo)
>> Levi Bartholomew (Waiakea)
>> Bobby Nash (Iolani)
Raiders coach Mark Mugiishi, a practicing physician, wrapped up his fourth Hawaiian Airlines Boys State Basketball Championship. He also guided Iolani to titles in 1994 and '98 and will be trying for a three-peat next year.
"I don't keep track of titles," Mugiishi said. "I'm too old for that. But I do know that for eight of our boys this was their first title and as a coach I'm glad to have been able to help them achieve some excitement and success."
Saint Louis was a horrendous three-for-16 from the floor in that pivotal first quarter. The Raiders, playing their typical patient and smooth-running offensive game, took only eight shots in the quarter but made six.
Fatigue could have been a factor working against the Crusaders, who were playing their fourth game in four days.
"I don't think it affected us at all," Saint Louis coach Delbert Tengan said. "It's a simple game. You just have to put the ball in the hole. When you shoot seven of 31 like we did (in the first half), it's not going to do it unless you play super defense. When some of our shots weren't falling, we hung our heads on defense and gave them some easy baskets."
Tournament MVP Derrick Low scored nine of his 13 points in the first half and Sean Carney capped an 11-2 run to start the second quarter by finishing off a feed from Ryan Hirata as the Raiders built their lead to 25-7.
The Crusaders' fire ignited late in the second quarter and they went on an 10-2 spree to go to the lockers down 27-17 at the half. Timo Paepule keyed the spurt with five points, while Desmond Hanohano took a long Jason Rivers pass in for a dunk.
"Comfortable? Not playing against Saint Louis," Mugiishi said. "I'm not satisfied until the game is over. We had a horrible stretch there and they got it back to within 10 points and that was worrisome. We were fortunate Saint Louis didn't have their jump shot going."
Iolani had an answer every time Saint Louis attempted to gain ground in the third quarter. When Jonah Lakatani's trey got the Crusaders within eight at 33-25, the Raiders got 3-point bombs from Low and Hirata and a jam and a turnaround jumper from Bobby Nash during a 14-0 run that super-sized their lead to 47-25.
Nash was close to unstoppable in the second half, scoring 10 of his game-high 15 points in the third quarter. He also finished with six rebounds. Zach Tollefson added nine points for the Raiders.
"Doc had prepared for Saint Louis and he kept reminding us that they're a tough team," said Low, a junior and the reigning Star-Bulletin player of the year. "We came out really wanting to win and we played hard and surprised ourselves with a big lead."
Early in the fourth, Iolani went into a stall with sharp crisp passes all over the court and Saint Louis' frustration became clear when Paepule took a run at Tollefson and knocked him over. Paepule was thrown out of the game for the intentional foul, but still led all Crusaders with seven rebounds. Hanohano and Lakatani each had a team-high nine points for Saint Louis.
Hirata, who had seven points and five rebounds, is among the Iolani players who'll return next year.
"We came out with more intensity than them," he said. "Our defensive pressure really helped keep Saint Louis down while creating some easy baskets.
"Playing with Derrick and Bobby is something special. They treat us as equals. Some people think they're big-headed, but they're not. They're two very special people."
MAUI 48, KAMEHAMEHA 45
The Sabers trailed by 11 with 2:12 left in the third quarter, but came back with hot shooting by junior forward Gene Rivera and two key buckets by reserve senior guard Van Komatsu to win the third-place game.
Rivera scored 10 of his game-high 20 points in a 14-0 run that ended with Maui (16-1) leading 40-37 with 3:30 left in the game. Komatsu scored all four of his points in the run.
The Warriors finally scored after a seven-minute drought on a 3-pointer by senior guard Eric Shaver to tie it at 40.
But Maui senior guard Efren Oasay then converted a three-point play off a fastbreak spurred by Rivera's steal, and the Sabers had the lead they would keep.
Kamehameha (15-6) kept it close in the final minute with a driving layup by Shaver, and senior guard Aaron Kahaloa's 3-pointer with 11 seconds left made it 46-45.
Maui senior guard Robinson Agdinoay then made two free throws with seven seconds left, and Shaver's 25-foot attempt at the buzzer bounced off the rim.
Senior forward William Melemai led the Warriors with 10 points. Oasay added 10 for Maui, and junior forward Tevita Finau grabbed 10 rebounds to help the Sabers to a 28-24 edge on the glass.
Maui (16-1, 2-1 HHSAA) 13 4 17 14 -- 48 Kamehameha (15-6, 2-2) 12 14 11 8 -- 45 Maui -- Maafu Finau 2, Gene Rivera 20, Tevita Finau 9, Robinson Agdinoay 2, Efren Oasay 10, Van Komatsu 4, Dane Patao 0, Kynan Metoyer 1.
Kamehameha -- William Melemai 10, Eric Shaver 9, Galen Santana 2, Caleb Spencer 8, Aaron Kahaloa 6, Radford Hepa 4, Waika Spencer 6.
3-point goals -- Maui (4) Rivera 4-4; KAM (3) Kahaloa 2-8, Shaver 1-5.
KALAHEO 54, LEILEHUA 48
Sam Wilhoite scored 14 of his 23 points in the second half as the Mustangs (13-4) overcame a 23-20 halftime deficit to secure fifth place in a rematch of the Oahu Interscholastic Association championship game.
Wilhoite also had 11 rebounds in what is likely coach Pete Smith's last game on the bench. Smith has led the Mustangs to 14 OIA championships and three state titles.
The Mules (13-4) were led by Zacarias Rivera with 22 points and five boards.
Leilehua (13-4, 2-2) 13 10 11 14 -- 48 Kalaheo (13-4, 2-1) 10 10 17 17 -- 54 Leilehua -- Andrew Talaeai 2, Zacarias Rivera 22, Anthony Hall 0, Demetriu Washington 4, Angel Fontanez 2, Tyrell Couch 2, Angelo Massey 12, Antonio Carter 4, BJ Fruean 0, Jonathan Scruggs 0, Jostin Repollo 0.
Kalaheo -- David Moore 4, Jeremy Neufeldt 6, Samuel Wilhoite 23, Theo Fujita 7, Zane Cabral 7, Aaron Luis 0, Christopher Tumaneng 0, Matthew Nakashima 5, William Elliot 2, Neil Bowers 0, Ryan Belles 0.
3-point goals -- Leilehua (1) Massey 1-2. Kalaheo (3) Fujita 1-8, Cabral 1-4, Nakashima 1-1.
WAIMEA 65, WAIAKEA 57
Jordon Dizon scored 16 of his 22 points in the first half to give the Menehunes (10-1) a nine-point lead at the break and a chance to cruise to the consolation championship.
Tyler Nishimura notched 17 points, while Levi Bartholomew pulled in 12 rebounds for the Warriors (10-6).
Wiamea (10-1, 2-1) 19 12 14 20 -- 65 Waiakea (10-6, 1-2) 8 14 14 21 -- 57 Waimea -- Jordan Dizon 22, Lanikai Kanahele 2, Mark Andres 2, Joshua Vinzant 3, Desmond Rodrigues 13, Jeremy Manuel 8, Jay Parinas 0, Blaine Camden 0, Alan Manuel 0, Casey Kaohelaulii 15, Jeremy McDown 0, Akeem Allen 0.
Waiakea -- Levi Bartholomew 11, Abraham McGrew 3, Tyler Nishimura 17, Sean Soriano 7, Ronnie Loeffler 10, Kyle Correira 2, Michael Belmes 2, Cody Aragaki 0, Cheynne Hirota 0, David Doll 3, Justin Pascual 2.
3-point goals -- Waimea (1) Vinzant 1-2. Waiakea (6) Nishimura 4-15, Loeffler 1-1, Soriano 1-5.
Iolani 61, Saint Louis 37
CRUSADERS (14-4, 3-1 HHSAA)
FG FGA FT FTA MIN REB A TP Hanohano 3 7 3 4 23 6 1 9 Paepule 3 8 0 0 15 7 0 7 Monteilh 0 1 0 0 15 1 1 0 Lakatani 4 9 0 0 25 3 3 9 Rivers 2 16 1 5 28 6 1 7 Batts 1 5 0 0 20 2 0 2 Adachi 0 3 0 0 13 1 0 0 Brilhante 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 Thompson 1 1 1 1 4 1 0 3 Vaa 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 Afoa 0 3 0 0 15 1 0 0 Totals 14 55 5 10 160 35 6 37 RAIDERS (17-0, 3-0 HHSAA)
FG FGA FT FTA MIN REB A TP Carney 1 1 0 0 12 2 2 2 Nash 7 14 1 2 28 6 2 15 Blankenship 1 1 1 1 12 3 0 3 Low 3 7 5 7 28 0 3 13 Hirata 2 5 2 2 25 5 4 7 Nip 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 3 Yasuda 0 1 0 0 7 0 0 0 Tollefson 1 1 7 9 18 3 0 9 Pape 3 3 0 0 18 4 1 6 Mageo 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Choy 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 2 Miller 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Eberlin 0 1 1 2 4 1 1 1 Totals 20 36 17 23 160 26 13 61 Key -- fg: field goals; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
Halftime -- Iolani 27, Saint Louis 17.
3-point goals -- Saint Louis 4-19 (Rivers 2-6, Batts 1-5, Thompson 1-1); Iolani 4-10 (Low 2-2, Hirata 1-4, Nip 1-1).
Personal fouls -- Saint Louis 13, Iolani 18.
Steals -- Saint Louis 6 (Paepule 2, Batts 2, Hanohano, Lakatani); Iolani 5 (Nash, Blankenship, Low, Tollefson, Pape).
Blocked shots -- Saint Louis 1 (Rivers); Iolani 3 (Carney, Nash, Emberlin).
Turnovers -- Saint Louis 12 (Lakatani 5, Rivers 3, Batts 2, Afoa 2); Iolani 10 (Nash 4, Low 3, Carney, Yasuda, Tollefson).
Officials -- Louie Fuentes, Francis Kau, Herbert Hew Len.
Hawaii School Web Sites
