Gaspar scores 13 points as Wildcats rally to knock off crosstown rivals ADVERTISING BY JOE FERRARO WEST HAWAII TODAY jferraro@westhawaiitoday.com KEALAKEKUA — Last year’s lopsided losses to Kealakehe still stuck in their minds, and Kenan Gaspar admitted the Konawaena Wildcats
Gaspar scores 13 points as Wildcats rally to knock off crosstown rivals
BY JOE FERRARO
WEST HAWAII TODAY
jferraro@westhawaiitoday.com
KEALAKEKUA — Last year’s lopsided losses to Kealakehe still stuck in their minds, and Kenan Gaspar admitted the Konawaena Wildcats may have wanted to win too badly Thursday at Onizuka Gymnasium.
As a result, Konawaena clanged free throws and missed several layups, putting them in a nine-point hole against its biggest rival.
However, the Wildcats’ tenacious trapping defense and transition offense erased more than three quarters of bad shooting as Konawaena defeated Kealakehe 51-45 in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation season opener for both boys basketball teams.
Gaspar led the Wildcats with 13 points, and the junior scored 10 of them after the Waveriders took a 38-31 lead with 7 minutes, 22 seconds remaining.
“It means a lot,” Gaspar said of the victory. “It means we grew. We learned from the mistakes.”
Konawaena tied the contest at 40 on Gaspar’s jumper from the right corner with 4:56 left.
Then the Wildcats and Waveriders traded the lead five times over a two-minute span.
Konawaena went ahead to stay after sophomore point guard Brandon Awa stole the ball and fed Gaspar for a free-throw line jumper and a 46-44 advantage with 2:22 remaining.
Then after Kealakehe junior Joby Wills split a pair of free throws, Konawaena junior forward Mikey Rabara essentially iced the game with a 3-pointer from the right wing that made it 49-45 with 1:38 left.
“It was one of those threes where I’m like, ‘No!… yes,”’ Konawaena coach Donny Awa said. “It’s not a good shot unless it goes in.”
The Wildcats forced seven Kealakehe turnovers in the fourth quarter, fueling their late run. That allowed Konawaean to overcome 38 percent free-throw shooting (7-of-18) and 30 percent (18-of-60) shooting from the field.
“I think we wanted it too much or no one showed up to play,” Gaspar said.
Brenton Shropshire added nine points, while Rabara, Viliamu Uulopa, Jonah Bredeson and Trevor Tanaka had six apiece.
Junior guard Deion Utrera and Wills led Kealakehe with 12 points apiece, with Utrera scoring all of his points in the first half.
Utrera sat out most of the fourth quarter with cramps, taking away depth from an injury-riddled Waverider team that played without sharp-shooting senior guard Eric Brown and senior forward Keni Souza.
Kealakehe coach Sam Kekuaokalani expects Brown and Souza to miss anywhere between one and two more weeks.
Kekuaokalani said the Waveriders slowed down the Wildcats by mixing in a 2-3 zone with the team’s man-to-man defense to make Konawaena “uncomfortable” on offense.
But the Kealakehe coach said the devastating loss to the Wildcats will test the team’s psyche.
The Waveriders held a 34-25 lead with 2:07 left in the first quarter.
“More than anything, this hurts us mentally,” Kekuaokalani said. “It’s going to be tough to bounce back. But, hopefully, we can bounce back.”
In the JV contest, Konawaena defeated Kealakehe 46-37.
The Wildcats’ Lii Karratti scored 13 points, Gabriel Trevino added 12, and Kevin Medeiros had 10.
Keanu Tilfas scored a team-high 13 points for Kealakehe.
Kealakehe 12 13 9 11 — 45
Konawaena 8 14 9 20 — 51
Kamehameha-Hawaii 67, Hilo 56: Shaun Kagawa scored 11 of his game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter and Lanaki ApeleShaun Kagawa scored 11 of his game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter and Lanaki Apele added 16 points to lift defending champion Warriors (1-0) to a win over the Vikings in a battle of Division I basketball title contenders on Thursday night.
Sophomore Jodd Carter scored 17 points off the bench for the host Vikings (1-1). Jacob Genegabus added 13 points and senior guard Rico Loeak had 11.
In JV action it was Hilo 45, Kamehameha 36.
Kamehameha 15 18 8 26 — 67
Hilo 13 19 11 13 — 56
Pahoa 52, St. Joseph 44: Junior Nick Fisher scored 21 points and Sonny Miguel added 14 as the host Daggers pulled away to win a battle ofDivision II contenders.
Pahoa (2-1) trailed by a point at halftime but limited the Cardinals (1-1) to only five points in the third quarter.
Seniors Austin Lee (12 points) and Thomas Fairman (11) scored in double figures for St. Joseph.
It was the final boys game played at the ageless Pahoa Gym. The school’s new gym will be used for the first time on Tuesday when the Daggers host Ka’u in a girls basketball game.
St. Joseph 9 15 5 15 — 44
Pahoa 10 13 15 14 — 52
Waiakea 59, Keaau 46: At Waiakea, sophomore Lucas St. George scored 19 points and junior Owen Sandstrom 14 to lead theDivision I Warriors (1-1).
Roger Carlos scored 13 points to lead the Division I Cougars (0-4).
In JV action, Keaau beat Waiakea 51-40.
Keaau 2 9 12 23 — 46
Waiakea 13 17 9 20 — 59
Hawaii Prep 63, Honokaa 52: Tyler Van Kirk scored 20 points and Kama DeSilva 12 to lead the visiting Division II Ka Makani (1-0).
Keanu Freitas scored 16 points and Isaiah Meyer 11 to lead the Division II Dragons (0-1).
Hawaii Prep 18 19 10 16 — 63
Honokaa 18 11 12 11 — 52
Stephens Media’s Bill O’Rear contributed to this report
