[ HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS ]
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
McKinley's Abel Werner went up for a shot in front of Kaimuki defenders in the first period at Kaimuki High School.
10th-ranked Bulldogs fall
McKinley rallies in the second half
to top Kaimuki 46-35 in an OIA game
High school basketball teams making their first appearance in the Star-Bulletin's Top 10 haven't had a very good go of it in the ensuing days.
Kaimuki became the latest victim to jump in at No. 10 and then suffer a defeat. The Bulldogs took a big lead on their home court last night against McKinley, but fell apart in the second half and lost 46-35.
For the small, but quick and agile Tigers, it was a huge victory. They improved to 6-2 in the log-jammed Oahu Interscholastic Association East Division and dropped Kaimuki to 5-3.
Earlier yesterday, the Bulldogs squeezed into the Top 10 after their upset of Kalaheo last week. Two OIA teams -- Nanakuli and Radford -- were tied at No. 10 one week ago before being bounced by West rivals soon thereafter and falling completely out of the poll.
"We're trying to get to the playoffs, slowly but surely," McKinley coach Bob Morikuni said after the win. "We made some big shots in a hostile environment. The kids kept fighting and I told them that eventually their shots were going to fall. Our shooting in the second half was definitely better than the first when we just weren't getting any second chances."
The Bulldogs completely dominated the boards and most other aspects of the game in the first half, especially late in the first quarter and early in the second when they went on an 18-2 tear for a 22-9 advantage.
Tone Faasea was a dominant force along the way, scoring 10 of his team's points underneath the basket.
McKinley showed a little life late in the half, cutting the deficit to 24-16 on Kapena Quisano's long jumper and layup along with Joshua Valdez's 3-pointer.
Quisano heated up in the second half by scoring 12 of his game-high 18 points, including three treys.
"Coach gave me the green light and I was able to hit," Quisano said. "They were obviously bigger than us, so it was up to us to come back and play the game. Teams walk on to the court and think they're going to beat us because we're small. Sometimes it works. Kahuku and Moanalua pounded on us. Many people have told me that we're so small that we can't win, but we're here to play ball."
Quisano was the catalyst for two impressive second-half runs by the Tigers -- 11-2 in the third and 13-0 in the fourth. The floor leadership of guard Abel Werner, who is also the McKinley football team's starting quarterback, was a factor in the comeback as well.
Nick Milan's six late third-quarter points allowed Kaimuki to stay in front 32-29 heading into the final eight minutes, but the turnover-prone Bulldogs were outscored 17-3 the rest of the way.
"Abel is a big-time inspirational speaker," Quisano said. "He's the one who got everybody going and believing in the second half."
Kaimuki coach Stephen Lee credited McKinley's defense.
"We just couldn't score. They forced us to make bad shots and bad decisions," he said. "This was a big loss. But we've been able to come back from losses before. Maybe our kids thought they were better than they really are after beating Kalaheo."
At Kaimuki H.S. gym
McKINLEY--Mark Nakatsuka 2, Abel Werner 6, Kapena Quisano 18, Brandon Barbasa 0, Iakopo Taumua 2, Robert Holder 10, Golden Lawrence 0, Joshua Valdez 8, Bobby Shimabukuro 0, Christopher Quiocho 0.
McKinley (6-2) 9 7 13 17 -- 46 Kaimuki (5-3) 12 12 8 3 -- 35
KAIMUKI--Davey Nguyen 0, Kekoa Onaga 0, Jordan Wong 0, Dexter Tautofi 2, Isaiah Ano 3, Jimmy Miyasaka 8, Reggy Palfrey 0, Keanu Lockwood 0, Tone Faasea 12, Nick Milan 10.
3-point goals: McKinley 5 (Quisano 3, Valdez 2), Kaimuki 2 (Ano, Miyasaka)
NO. 3 MILILANI 76, KAPOLEI 72 OT
Alex Patykula scored 24 points and Puna Neumann had 19 to help the Trojans beat the Hurricanes in an OIA West clash.Neumann tied the game at 62 in regulation and had a chance to hit the game winner. After Mililani stalled twice with under a minute left, Neumann drove to the hoop but was blocked and stepped out of bounds with the ball.
Kapolei then threw the ball away during the inbounds play, giving Mililani the ball back. Andrew Tokumi's shot at the buzzer missed.
Mililani hit eight free throws and two 3-pointers in overtime to seal the game.
Warren Simanu scored 24 points and E.J. Aton added in 16 for the Hurricanes.
At Mililani H.S. gym
KAPOLEI--E.J. Aton 16, Aaron Lewis 4, Jefferson Gaygay 14, Roland Mason 0, Brad Padayao 6, Jerrome Figueroa 2, Warren Simanu 24, Mose Atuatasi 6.
Kapolei (6-2) 13 19 19 11 10 -- 72 Mililani (8-0) 15 12 22 13 14 -- 76
MILILANI--Lorenzo Abernathy 0, Puna Neumann 19, Scott Neumann 4, Aaron Kanno 7, Ryan Shular 6, Clarence Gray 4, Andrew Tokumi 0, Alex Patykula 24, Jonovan Santos 2, Nick Rogers 10.
3-point goals -- Kapolei 7 (Gaygay 4, Padayao 2, Aton), Mililani 10 (Puna Neumann 3, Patykula 3, Rogers 2, Kano 1, Shular 1).
Junior varsity -- Kapolei 38, Mililani 34
NO. 5 KALAHEO 61, KALANI 46
Sam Wilhoite scored eight of his 12 points and Theo Fujita added two 3-pointers as the Mustangs overcame a four-point opening period to take a 24-17 advantage into halftime.The Mustangs used balanced scoring in the second half to hold off the Falcons and improve to 7-1 on the season. Wilhoite and Fujita combined to score 14 of Kalaheo's 20 points in the second quarter when they turned a tight defensive game into a rout.
AtKalaheo H.S. gym
KALANI--Carsen Chun 10, Dusten Umeda 12, Cody D'Amato 1, Kellen Kashiwa 7, Todd Dooher 0, Cory Konishi 5, Zachary Felipe 0, Mark Bonner 0, Jason DeGuzman 7, Jonah Letoto 4.
Kalani (3-5) 6 11 11 18 -- 46 Kalaheo (7-1) 4 20 16 21 -- 61
KALAHEO--Elias Ayau 2, Chris Tumaneng 5, Matt Nakashima 2, Theo Fujita 14, Kahua Hollinger 0, William Elliott 9, Nate Witcher 0, Neil Bowers 4, Joshua Perry 0, David Moore 5, Clifton Pires 4, Jason Tanaka 0, Daniel Phair 4, Sam Wilhoite 12.
3-point goals -- Kalani 5 (Chun, DeGuzman, Kashiwa, Letoto, Umeda), Kalaheo 3 (Fujita 2, Elliott).
Junior varsity -- Kalaheo 50, Kalani 46
RADFORD 45, NANAKULI 32
Tauren Moore scored 13 of his game-high 25 points -- including three 3-pointers -- in the first half to lead the Rams to a 27-18 advantage en route to a 45-32 win over Nanakuli.Seven different players scored for the Rams, who trusted Moore enough to make up more than half of his team's offense.
Albert Distajo led the Golden Hawks, who fell into a tie with the Rams, with eight points.
AtRadford H.S. gym
NANAKULI--Kyle Beck 0, James Chandler 6, Alex Distajo 3, Jimmy Afamasaga 0, Albert Distajo 8, David Balicao 0, Justin Luavasa 2, Jaycee Alapai 4, Rolando Celes 6, Alan Kalahiki-Pilialoha 0, Alika Enos 3.
Nanakuli (5-2) 9 9 6 8 -- 32 Radford (5-2) 14 13 8 10 -- 45
RADFORD--Will Kerins 3, Ricardo Shipley 4, Jordan Rellin 3, Greg Solomon 1, Tauran Moore 25, Mike Davis 5, James Herron 4, Justin Quinones 0, Joseph Brundidge 0.
3-point goals -- Nanakuli 1 (Ax. Distajo), Radford 5 (Moore 4, Kerins).
Junior varsity -- Nanakuli 51, Radford 43
