[ HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL ]
RONEN ZILBERMAN / RZILBERMAN@STARBULLETIN.COM
Punahou’s Daniel Cho went to the basket during last night’s state tournament game, as Maui’s Shaka Batson trailed.
Mustangs hold
off WarriorsKalaheo almost blows
a big lead but beats
Kamehameha
What started as a shooter's paradise for Kalaheo ended in a gritty, under-the-basket struggle that the Mustangs almost let get away.
But unlike last year, the Oahu Interscholastic Association champion Mustangs held on to defeat Kamehameha 55-44 last night in the quarterfinals of the Hawaiian Airlines Boys State Basketball Championship Tournament at Blaisdell Arena.
After trailing by a wide margin most of the game, the Warriors closed to 44-40 with 3:50 left and Kalaheo needed two key baskets by 6-foot-7 center Sam Wilhoite to keep them at bay.
From there, the Mustangs (14-1) went 5-for-7 at the free-throw line and got a layup from Theo Fujita to close it out. They'll take on Punahou in tonight's 8:30 semifinal.
"We faced the same situation last year against them in the quarterfinals," Wilhoite said. "We went up big and they beat us in overtime. We didn't want that to happen again and had the strength and confidence to win it. We didn't want to be in a consolation game on the second night again. We stayed together, and we hit our free throws down the stretch."
Wilhoite was locked in a battle down low against the Warriors' 6-5 Waika Spencer, but it was almost a non-factor. That's because Kalaheo hit four first-quarter treys --one each by Fujita, Wilhoite, William Elliott and Matt Nakashima -- for a huge 18-3 cushion heading into the second quarter.
That's when Wilhoite gained a slight edge over Spencer, scoring seven of his game-high 18 points in the period as Kalaheo took a 31-17 halftime lead.
"We were watching them play," Spencer said about the Warriors' poor first-half performance. "And they were making all their shots, so some guys just put their heads down.
"It was lots of fun against Sam. I wanted to bang with him because the newspapers say he's the man. I wanted to show I could play with one of the best post players in the state."
Spencer finished with nine boards to Wilhoite's 13, but he only scored five points and watched the ball roll off the rim on a handful of inside shots.
"Everything was rolling out for us and we didn't put on the defensive pressure that we would have liked (early in the game)," Kamehameha coach Jesse Nakanishi said. "And they were knocking down some big shots. At the half, I reminded our boys about some of the comebacks we had during the season and that they needed to continue to believe in themselves and play like Warriors."
Sure enough, Kamehameha (11-7) -- the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's third-place team -- stormed back with an 18-7 run that encompassed the latter half of the third quarter and the early part of the fourth. Kawika Hepa led the way by draining two 3-pointers and driving the lane for a hoop, while Ikaika Hardie had two steals that he finished off with layups.
When Spencer twisted in for an inside bucket, the lead was down to four, 44-40.
After Wilhoite's two hoops off the glass made it 48-40, the Warriors still didn't give up and Quincy Crowell dropped in his third 3-pointer of the night for a 48-43 deficit with 1:30 left.
But it wasn't enough as Fujita and David Moore made two free throws each and Jason Tanaka added one to end it.
"You can never quit playing," said Kalaheo coach Chico Furtado, whose team shot 45 percent from the floor to Kamehameha's 37 percent. "I knew that at some point Kamehameha would come back and they did. We were fortunate to weather the storm when Sam hit a couple of buckets. Good teams don't just go away, and for a time there in the middle of the third and the fourth, we lost focus.
"We need to get some rest for the Punahou game. They play the same kind of defense that Kamehameha plays, with lots of traps and switches and scrambling around. And they use a lot of guys, more than we do. So hopefully, they're a little more worn out than us, having to play two games already."
Kamehameha--Ikaika Hardie 9, Vance Wright 0, Rykin Enos 5, Quincy Crowell 11, Michael Nii 0, Christopher Wong 0, Jacob Bode 0, Parker Bode 0, Matthew Kam 0, Waika Spencer 5, Kapono Kuikahi 0, Ernest Vidinha 6, Ikaika Shelton 0, Gabriel Spencer 0, Gavin Loo 0, Kawika Hepa 8.
Kamehameha (11-7) 3 14 15 12 -- 44 Kalaheo (14-1) 18 14 10 13 -- 55
Kalaheo--Elias Ayau 0, Chris Tumaneng 3, Matt Nakashima 4, Theo Fujita 10, Kahua Hollinger 0, William Elliott 14, Marvin Judd 0, Neil Bowers 3, Joshua Perry 0, David Moore 2, Clifton Pires 0, Jason Tanaka 1, Daniel Phair 0, Sam Wilhoite 18.
3-point goals--Kamehameha 6 (Crowell 3, Hepa 2, Enos), Kalaheo 6 (Fujita 2, Nakashima, Elliott, Bowers, Wilhoite)Punahou 74, Maui 55: The Buffanblu went on a 19-2 run late in the first quarter and early in the second to pull away from the Valley Isle champion and third-seeded Sabers.
Guard Jeremiah Ostrowski hit a jumper and two 3-pointers in the burst, which gave Punahou a 25-9 lead.
The Buffanblu's sharp performance earned them a spot in the semifinals tonight and it was in stark contrast to their opener Wednesday against Waiakea, when they squeezed out a late win.
"We wanted to come in and build momentum and we did it," Ostrowski said. "The first game we were nervous and ended up letting down in the fourth quarter. This game, we played the whole game and never let down, and we know that's what you have to do."
The dominance continued for the ILH runner-up Buffanblu (14-2) in the third quarter, and it didn't take long to build a 27-point lead, 50-23. Spencer McLachlin got into the 3-point act with two from beyond the arc.
Maui made it through its league season unmarked at 12-0 before hitting the Punahou wall.
"They shot the lights out in the first half," Sabers coach Bill Naylor said. "We thought we had a chance if we could just cover them. We tried to cover them, but it didn't matter because they were shooting so well.
"Their defensive switches caused problems for us all night, too. If they shoot like they did against us and cover like they did against us and can get to the final against Iolani (if the Raiders also get there), they have a chance to win it. Everyone thinks Iolani is just going to run right through everybody."
Ostrowski finished with a game-high 21 points in 17 minutes. He shot 70 percent from the floor, including three of four from 3-point land.
Sean Curtis had a team-high 17 points for the Sabers with an assortment of jumpers, 3-pointers and strong drives, while Chris Kelly added a game-high seven rebounds.
McLachlin finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
"We had great rhythm," Buffanblu coach Greg Tacon said. "We kept on finding that right person, and Jeremiah kept knocking down the big shots for us. He's a rhythm guy and we'll need him to do the same thing (tonight). I'm extremely pleased to be in the final four."
Punahou--Jordan Moss 6, Jeremiah Ostrowski 21, Michael China 3, Storm Bridgewater 3, Daniel Cho 9, Reid Fowler 2, Scott Otake 2, Brenton Lee 6, Robbie Shklov 0, Morgan Ellsworth 4, Kaohu Berg-Hee 5, Spencer McLachlin 10, Brandon Kapana 0, Kasey Ko 2, TJ Zabriskie 1.
Punahou (14-2) 18 18 18 20 -- 74 Maui (12-1) 7 11 14 23 -- 55
Maui--Jordian Cabrera 0, Shaka Batson 0, Ryan Ishizu 6, Brad Duran 0, Kenneth Agdinaoay 0, Anthony Parilla 6, Ronald Belany 8, Wilmar Bumanglag 3, Sean Curtis 17, Gene Rivera 6, Dallas Wilson 0, Chris Kelly 7, Mike Delacruz 2.
3-point goals: Punahou 7 (Ostrowski 3, McLachlin 2, Bridgewater, Cho), Maui 7 (Ishizu 2, Belany 2, Curtis 2, Parilla)
HHSAA boys basketball
At Blaisdell Arena
Seeds: 1. Iolani (15-0). 2. Kalaheo (14-1). 3. Maui (12-1). 4. Kealakehe (15-1).WEDNESDAY
Game 1: Punahou 68, Waiakea 64
2: Mililani 67, Baldwin 56
3: Kaimuki 48, Waimea 46
4: Kamehameha 56, McKinley 38YESTERDAY
5: Baldwin 62, Waimea 40
6: Mililani 72, Kealakehe 62
7: Punahou 74, Maui 55
8: Kalaheo 55, Kamehameha 44
9: Iolani 63, Kaimuki 41TODAY
10: Waiakea vs. McKinley, 1:45 p.m.
11: Kealakehe vs. Kaimuki, 3:30 p.m.
12: Maui vs. Kamehameha, 5:15 p.m.
13: Mililani vs. Iolani, 7 p.m.
14: Punahou vs. Kalaheo, 8:30 p.m.TOMORROW
Consolation final: Baldwin vs. Game 10 winner, 3 p.m.
Fifth place: Game 11 and 12 winners, 4:30 p.m.
Third place: Game 13 and 14 losers, 6 p.m.
Championship: Game 13 and 14 winners, 8:30 p.m.
