Kealakehe rides wave of 3s into BIIF semis BY JOE FERRARO | WEST HAWAII TODAY ADVERTISING Sam Kekuaokalani didn’t totally abandon his system, which demands patience and high-percentage shots around the paint. But the Kealakehe boys basketball coach, realizing the
Kealakehe rides wave of 3s into BIIF semis
BY JOE FERRARO | WEST HAWAII TODAY
Sam Kekuaokalani didn’t totally abandon his system, which demands patience and high-percentage shots around the paint.
But the Kealakehe boys basketball coach, realizing the offensive aggression in his players, has recently given the Waveriders more offensive freedom, summarizing his strategy with the three-word message he gave his team two weeks ago: Let it rain.
It was raining 3-pointers at Kealakehe Wednesday, and the hot shooting carried the Waveriders in a Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division I tournament first-round game.
Junior Deion Utrera scored 23 points, hitting three of Kealakehe’s seven first-half 3s as the Waveriders built a 17-point second-quarter lead before holding off a late Waiakea charge in a 54-44 victory.
West Hawaii No. 2 seed Kealakehe (5-4) advanced to Friday’s BIIF semifinals at Hilo’s Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, where the Waveriders will face defending BIIF champion Kamehameha-Hawaii (12-0).
East Hawaii No. 3 seed Waiakea, which got within five points in the fourth quarter, ended its season 5-8.
“We kept shooting the ball, and the shots just dropped,” Utrera said. “We like to get the fastest open shot.”
Kealakehe hit all seven of its 3s in the first 12 minutes, with Nalu Marks nailing two, and Larry Adarna and Eric Brown sinking one apiece. Brown hit the last one with 3 minutes, 48 seconds left in the second half, giving Kealakehe its biggest lead at 31-14.
Brown also played a role as a distributor, driving the lane before kicking the ball out to open shooters. The senior finished with six assists.
Waiakea coach Paul Lee gave all the credit for the 3-point proficiency to the Waveriders, saying the Warriors contested most of the long-range shots.
“Once those went early, I told my assistant coaches, ‘It’s going to be a long night,'” Lee said.
However, the same Kealakehe team that started the game 7-of-10 from 3-point range then went cold from beyond the arc, missing its final 15 treys. All the while, Waiakea, which struggled finding open shots against the Waveriders’ 2-3 zone early in the game, scratched and clawed its way back into the contest.
The Warriors, who beat Kealakehe twice in nonconference play this season, scored the final six points of the first half to get within 31-20 before going on an 8-2 run that got them within 45-40 with 5:34 remaining.
A pair of Waiakea sophomores, Lucas St. George and Dillon Rellez, each scored four points during the spurt, and they finished with 17 and 10 points respectively.
“It’s probably the best game (Rellez) had all year,” Lee said. “Hopefully, it’ll show him what kind of player he can be.”
Kealakehe held off the Warriors with the execution Kekuaokalani normally demands from his players. During three fourth-quarter possessions, the Waveriders patiently worked the ball around the perimeter before finding open cutters for back-door layups.
“They executed to the best of their ability,” Kekuaokalani said.
Senior Keni Souza scored the last of the back-door layups, taking a nice feed from senior Jacob Ontiveros and giving the Waveriders a comfortable 52-42 lead with 1:37 left.
Ontiveros finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, but he played an even bigger role on the defensive end, swatting away what appeared to be two easy fast-break layups in the fourth quarter for two of his three blocked shots.
“That guy is the heart of the team,” Kekuaokalani said.
Kealakehe 23 8 12 11 — 54
Waiakea 12 8 14 10 — 44
c Hilo 68, Keaau 37: Sophomores Jalen Carvalho and Jodd Carter provided a nice one-two punch, scoring 15 and 12 points, respectively, while senior Rico Loeak added 11 points to spur the Vikings.
In Friday’s BIIF semifinals at the Civic, East Hawaii No. 2 seed Hilo (9-4) will play West Hawaii top seed Konawaena (8-2).
Nelson Enos scored 17 points to lead the Cougars, who trailed 38-14 at halftime, scoring just two points in the first quarter.
The season is over for the Cougars (1-12), who lose seven seniors, including four starters in Cliff Eriksson, Roger Carlos, Kau Eggers and Enos.
In the regular season, Hilo defeated Keaau 98-81, despite Eriksson’s 29 points.
Keaau 2 12 9 14 — 37
Hilo 13 25 17 13 — 68
Division II
c St. Joseph 49, Honokaa 48: Senior guard Sebi Ohara-Saft scored 15 points, none more important than his last two free throws with 6.9 seconds left, to lift the Cardinals past the Dragons in a BIIF tournament first-round game at the Civic.
At 3 p.m. Friday at the Civic, St. Joseph (7-6) will play Hawaii Prep (7-3) in the BIIF Division II semifinals.
Thomas Fairman also had 15 points, Cody Andrade added eight points and Christian Kaui scored six for St. Joseph.
Alika Alip led Honokaa (3-8) with 19 points, while Isaiah Meyer added 11, including three 3-pointers.
The season is over for the Dragons, who have no seniors on their 12-man roster. Honokaa held a 48-41 lead with 1:12 remaining before the Cardinals stormed back for the victory.
c Kohala 42, Ka’u 21: Christopher Roxburgh scored 12 points, and Andrew Trump added 10 as the host Cowboys cruised into the Division II semifinals.
At 4:30 p.m. Friday at the Civic, West Hawaii No. 2 seed Kohala (7-4) will face East Hawaii top seed Pahoa (9-3) in the BIIF semifinals.
Greg Javar scored nine points and Roy Esperon had seven for the Trojans, who finished the season 2-11.
Ka’u 4 1 2 14 — 21
Kohala 4 8 13 17 — 42
jferraro@westhawaiitoday.com
