BY BILL O’REAR | STEPHENS MEDIA ADVERTISING HILO — Shaun Kagawa scored 15 points, Jacob Kackley added 13 and Kekoa Turner had 12 to lead Kamehameha-Hawaii to a 61-55 win over Hilo in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation boys Division
BY BILL O’REAR | STEPHENS MEDIA
HILO — Shaun Kagawa scored 15 points, Jacob Kackley added 13 and Kekoa Turner had 12 to lead Kamehameha-Hawaii to a 61-55 win over Hilo in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation boys Division I basketball tournament championship game on Saturday night.
About 2,750 fans watched the contest at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
The hard-fought victory also clinched the Warriors’ second straight overall BIIF crown and the league’s top seed in the upcoming Hawaii High School Association Division I tournament on Oahu. Kamehameha (13-1) and Hilo (10-5) will represent the BIIF in the 12-team state tourney, slated Feb. 22-25.
Kamehameha led big early, but shaky foul-shooting almost let the Vikings escape with the win. Hilo tripped a 41-25 third-quarter deficit to 56-53 with 2 minutes, 11 seconds left in the game on Drew Kell’s free throws.
However, when Kagawa missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw situation, the 6-2 Kackley grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He calmly made both charity shots to stretch the Warriors’ lead to 58-53.
Then, after Hilo couldn’t convert on its next possession, Turner hit a layup to make it 60-53 with 46 left. The Vikings cut the deficit to 60-55 on senior Rico Loeak’s 12-foot jumper at 7 seconds left before senior Lanaki Apele drained one of two free throws to close scoring at 61-55 at with 4 seconds remaining.
Apele, a 5-9 point guard, finished with nine points and eight assists besides handling the ball the majority of the time. But once he gave it up when a Vikings’ double-team came, either Kagawa, Kackley or Turner kept the offense moving.
Kell, a 6-0 sophomore, led Hilo with 13 points and had a team-high 10 rebounds in his best all-around game of the season. Sophomore Jalen Carvalho followed with 11 points, including nine in the second half. Junior Jacob Genegabus had nine points, and sophomore Jodd Carter added eight points.
Kamehameha also controlled the boards throughout the contest. Kackley had a game-high 11 rebounds, Turner had 10, senior Kaeo Alapai had six, and Kagawa and Apele grabbed five apiece.
“Both teams came out to play tonight,” Warriors coach Dominic Pacheco said. “It’s not easy beating a team three times, and it was tough tonight, especially when we didn’t shoot free throws very well in the second half.
“But it’s nice to see our boys’ hard work pay off. They worked hard all summer and throughout this season.”
Pacheco also praised Hilo’s strong effort.
“Hats off to Hilo; they never quit,” he said. “But for us, I’m glad our seniors were able to go out with the championship. It means a lot to them and what they’ve done the past two years.”
An exhausted Apele credited his teammates for stepping up.
“When Hilo doubled me, I gave it up, and the other guys did a really good job of handling the ball,” he said. “It’s great to win the BIIF title again. Now, we’ve got to go to Oahu and step up another level to play against the best teams in the state.”
Kagawa, a 5-foot-10 junior, scored nine points in the first half as Kamehameha led 15-7 at the end of the first quarter and 29-18 at the intermission. The Warriors then built their biggest lead of the evening at 41-25 with 3:51 remaining in the third period.
Hilo 7 11 19 18 — 55
KS-Hawaii 15 14 17 15 — 61
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