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BY KEVIN JAKAHI
STEPHENS MEDIA
KEAAU — Even though he graduated in 2006 from Kamehameha-Hawaii, Mana Silva is still making an impact at his old school.
The current Dallas Cowboys safety gave an inspirational pregame speech to Kamehameha’s boys basketball team, and it must have worked because the Warriors blitzed Hilo 82-58 in a Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division I showdown Wednesday night at Koaia Gym.
On Senior Night, Lanaki Apele put on a spectacular show, scoring 19 points, dishing out four assists and orchestrating a potent fast-break attack to help the Warriors clinch a first-round bye in the six-team BIIF Division I Tournament, where they’ll likely play either Waiakea or Kealakehe for a Hawaii High School Athletic Association state berth.
“Mana talked about being focused, giving it your all and working hard,” Kamehameha coach Dominic Pacheco said. “It must have helped. I have to thank Mana for giving back to the program. We came out with a lot of intensity from the start and carried that throughout the game.
“Getting the bye is the first goal we had. But we still want to take it one game at a time. It’s a process to everything. We’ve still got two more games left, and we still have to take care of business.”
Besides Apele, the other seniors are Kaeo Alapai, who added 16 points, Kekoa Turner, who had 11, Jacob Kackley, Keoni Wong, Kamana Aiu and Easten Tanimoto, who received the game’s biggest cheers when his 3-pointer bounced off the top of the backboard and dropped in with 3 minute, 43 seconds left in the game.
Unfortunately, that basket didn’t count. It mattered little because Kamehameha was already up 73-46 at the time, a nice cushion the Warriors built by converting 16 Hilo turnovers into 14 points.
Junior guard Shaun Kagawa added 15 points for the defending BIIF champion Warriors (10-0), who lost to Kamehameha-Oahu in the Division I state tournament quarterfinals last year.
“We just tried to play ball and get the lead up so we didn’t have to play catch-up,” Apele said. “It feels good to win. There’s no better way to end on Senior Night.”
Rico Loeak scored 13 points, Jalen Carvalho had 11 and Nathan Leboeuf got nine points in mop-up minutes to lead the Vikings (6-3), who had a tough time finding a clean shot and finished at 28 percent (17 of 60) shooting.
Meanwhile, when the Warriors weren’t breaking Hilo’s full-court traps and scoring, Apele was taking his defender off the dribble and giving teammates easy layups. All those high-percentage looks translated into 56 percent (27-of-48) shooting.
Hilo will likely host Keaau in a first-round playoff game on Feb. 8. Last season, the Vikings advanced to the state tournament as the BIIF runner-up.
In the junior varsity game, Hilo beat Kamehameha 47-37.
Hilo 9 15 13 21 — 58
Kamehameha 19 22 19 22 — 82
c Kealakehe 73, Hawaii Prep 65: Senior guards Jacob Ontiveros and Nalu Marks scored 21 and 20 points respectively for visiting Kealakehe, which hit 12 shots from beyond the 3-point arc.
Junior guard Deion Utrera added 18 points for the Waveriders (4-4).
Senior guard Dakota Berman poured in a game-high 27 points for Ka Makani (4-3), while junior forward Kama DeSilva added 10.
In the JV contest, HPA beat Kealakehe 60-35 behind 16 points from Buck Thomas and 14 from Nicky Paleisi. Igor Radov led Kealakehe with 13 points.
Kealakehe 22 24 12 15 — 73
Hawaii Prep 17 12 24 12 — 65
c Konawaena 81, Laupahoehoe 17: Junior center Brenton Shropshire and senior guard Viliamu Uulopa each scored 13 as the host Wildcats remained unbeaten at 7-0.
Seniors Manao Alu and Kanoa Santiago added 10 points apiece for Konawaena.
Junior Justin Jose paced the Seasiders (0-9) with 10 points.
Laupahoehoe 0 6 7 4 — 17
Konawaena 28 26 10 17 — 81
c Kohala 43, Honokaa 34: Junior Makani Kualii and Chris Roxburgh scored 12 points apiece for the Cowboys (6-1), who trailed 16-15 at halftime before taking control in the second half.
Alika Alip led the Dragons (2-6) with eight points.
In JV action, Kohala beat Honokaa 46-39.
Honokaa 12 4 9 9 — 34
Kohala 8 7 14 14 — 43
c Waiakea 74, Keaau 47: Sophomore Bryson Ita scored 13 points as the visiting Warriors got balanced scoring to clinch no worse than East Hawaii’s No. 3 seed in the BIIF Division I tournament.
Senior Lucas St. George and junior Owen Sandstrom each scored 12 points for Waiakea (4-5), and junior Michael Morikawa chipped in 10.
Sophomore Davin Alviento scored 10 points for the Cougars (1-9), who will be East Hawaii’s No. 4 seed at the BIIF tourney.
In junior varsity action, Mark Pacris scored 11 points in Waiakea’s 46-39 victory.
Waiakea 23 10 14 27 — 74
Keaau 8 12 9 18 — 47
c St. Joseph 55, Pahoa 42: Senior Sebastian Ohara-Saft hit six 3-pointers and scored a game-high 20 points, and senior Thomas Fairman added 15 points and 18 rebounds at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium as the Cardinals emphatically ended a three-game losing streak with their biggest win of the year.
Senior Christian Kaui added 11 points, and senior Cody Andrade had seven points with 11 rebounds for St. Joseph (4-6), which pulled away after taking a one-point lead into the fourth quarter.
The Daggers (6-3) lost to a Division II team for the first time this season and missed out on its first chance at clinching a top seed and a first-round bye at the six-team BIIF tournament.
Junior Nick Fisher led Pahoa with 16 points, and senior Sonny Miguel had nine.
Pahoa 13 10 11 8 — 42
St. Joseph 13 14 8 20 — 55
Girls
c Konawaena 53, Laupahoehoe 5: Junior guard Melissa Simon scored a game-high 17 points in Kealakekua as the Wildcats improved to 8-0.
Junior Vanistie Batin led the Seasiders (0-9) with three points.
Laupahoehoe 0 2 3 0 — 5
Konawaena 16 13 15 9 — 53
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