Kevin Medeiros provided a boost off the bench with 18 points, including nine in a crucial third quarter, as Konawaena outlasted Waiakea in a Division I battle between title contenders. ADVERTISING Kevin Medeiros provided a boost off the bench with
Kevin Medeiros provided a boost off the bench with 18 points, including nine in a crucial third quarter, as Konawaena outlasted Waiakea in a Division I battle between title contenders.
Pookela Hanato-Smith added 10 points and the rest of the Wildcats played tough defense to knock off Waiakea 58-53 in a wild Big Island Interscholastic Federation boys basketball game Saturday night at the Warriors Gym.
Despite giving up about five inches, Hanato-Smith guarded Waiakea forward Lucas St. George, a mobile 6-foot-3 senior, who had to work hard for his 16 points.
“Like all our games against good teams, we’re right there and find a way to squeak one out, despite not playing our best basketball,” Konawaena coach Donny Awa said. “It was nice to see Kevin hit shots. He’s one of our better shooters, but has been in a bit of a slump. When he’s on, it opens things up for everybody else.
“We wanted to put Pookela on Lucas. He’s been beating his big man defenders with speed. We thought Pookela would have more speed and keep him off the glass.”
Kahinu Alapai and Calvin Mattos each had eight points for the Warriors (3-2), who led 23-20 at halftime and could have increased that lead if not for several blown layups and other point-blank shots.
Brandon Awa and Chase Takaki each scored nine points for the Wildcats (5-0), who had much better ball security with just eight turnovers; the Warriors had 13 giveaways, including four in the fourth period when possessions were precious.
Medeiros was an instant microwave scoring machine in the third quarter. He scored on a putback off a Jonah Bredeson free throw miss, drained a 3-pointer and converted two other big buckets.
“We executed in the second half. We wanted to push the tempo,” Medeiros said. “I just let it flow. I couldn’t hold back. It was teamwork and we stuck together.”
The second half featured a more up-tempo pace than the half-court defensive stands in the first 16 minutes. Right before the third period buzzer, Awa zipped through Waiakea’s defense for a layup with 4.1 seconds left.
St. George scored on a pair of putbacks early in the fourth quarter to chip Konawaena’s lead to 45-42. Then Maikai Gahan scored to get Waiakea within 45-44 with 4:20 remaining in the game.
That’s when Medeiros swished his third and final trey, a proverbial punch to the gut that gave the Wildcats a bit of breathing room with a 48-44 advantage with 3:49 to go.
From there, Konawaena spread the court and attacked the rim when the Warriors made a misstep on defense. Takaki dribbled and dished to Medeiros, who sank a short banker to pound down another nail for a 50-44 lead with 2:00 showing on the clock.
The closest the Warriors got was 57-53, but only 24.7 seconds remained. Konawaena eventually walked off with a vital win. More importantly, the Wildcats are in the driver’s seat for the BIIF regular season title, which includes the first berth to the Hawaii High School Athletic Association state tournament.
“We haven’t shot the ball really well, and the second half was more up-tempo and I thought that favored us a bit,” Awa said. “Hilo has two losses and this is a really big win for us. We talked about this prior to the game. We control our own destiny. I thought Waiakea was our main competition because they match up well against us.”
Kamehameha 79, Kealakehe 67
Pukana Vincent sparked the host Warriors to victory by pouring in 18 points and Micah Carter fueled a 3-point barrage and added 16 points.
Carter finished with four of his team’s nine 3-pointers. Kaeo Bacatan and Bayley Manliguis each scored 10 points and Dayson Alip had nine for Kamehameha (3-2), which led 64-40 after three quarters.
The Waveriders (1-3) had three players reach double figures, getting 13 apiece from Kalani Lewi and Malu Akiona as well as Shaden Lewi’s 11
HPA 70, Ka‘u 38
Evaldas Vegertas’ 14 points in Pahala led a balanced effort as Ka Makani remained unbeaten.
Kenji Stinson and Nicky Palleschi each contributed 11 points for HPA (5-0).
Larry-Dan Al-Navarro led the Trojans (0-5) with 16 points.
In JV, Ka‘u won 57-43.
Honokaa 66, St. Joseph 61
Shyrome Batin, Cjay Carvalho and Wesley Salboro delivered fourth-quarter heroics at Honokaa Armory as the Dragons avoided an upset.
Batin scored seven of his game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter, Carvalho tallied all of his eight in the fourth and Salboro scored all but two of his nine points in the quarter for Honokaa (2-3), which overcame a 10-point deficit after three quarters. Nathan Gascon added 10 points in the game.
Cole Desilva scored 18 for the Cardinals (0-4) and Michael Silva had 13.
Keaau 47, Pahoa 44, OT
Edgar Ventura led all scorers with 26 points and the Cougars won in overtime in Pahoa.
Charlie Belmes added 10 for Keaau (3-2).
Tolby Saito paced the Daggers (1-4) with 15.
In JV, Keaau won 46-40.
Kohala 89, Hilo 79
The Cowboys got contributions from all over for a rousing comeback victory in a shootout in Kapaau.
Kealan Figueroa powered Kohala (4-1) with 27 points, Shawn Ray Ramos scored 23 and Mikala Jordan added 20 for the Cowboys, who erased a 10-point halftime deficit by tying the game after three quarters. Kohala scored 27 points to pull away in the fourth.
The Vikings (2-3) lost despite getting a 35-point performance from Jalen Carvalho. Austin Dante scored 25 for Hilo and Fa’a Fuiava tallied 14.
Justin Aybayani gave Kohala a fourth double-digit scorer with 13.
Hilo won the JV game 60-31.
