Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was Waiakea’s season of brilliance, which took time, patience and trust to get going in the right direction and over a big mountain named Konawaena.
The Warriors needed Calvin Mattos, the heartbeat of their basketball team, to head a campaign calling for ball-sharing and team chemistry, the two important pieces that turn contenders into champions.
The 5-foot-10 junior guard repeated as the BIIF Division I Player of the Year, in a vote by the league’s coaches.
Waiakea’s Paul Lee was named the BIIF Coach of the Year, after guiding the Warriors to their first league title since 2009.
“This one (POY) feels good now. I finally got what I wanted, which is the BIIF title,” Mattos said. “This year we had a lot more team chemistry. Everybody’s mindset was we wanted to win.”
Also on the first team were Konawaena sophomore Austin Ewing, Kamehameha seniors Pukana Vincent and Bayley Manliguis and Hilo junior Isaac Liu.
The All-BIIF voting only includes the regular season. That’s too bad because it’s the postseason where Mattos does his best work.
Of all the BIIF basketball titles at Waiakea, both boys and girls, the Mattos and Co. production of 2016 will go down in school history as the most arduous.
That’s because of the recent history between the Warriors and Wildcats, who entered the season as the three-time defending BIIF champion with a reputation for knocking off Waiakea in the postseason.
Back in 2013, Kona edged Waiakea 59-58 in the BIIF semifinals. Mattos was in the eighth grade but knows his Warrior hoops history well.
As a freshman in 2014, the Wildcats defeated Mattos and the Warriors for the BIIF title 57-54. As consolation, at least, Waiakea qualified for the HHSAA state tournament.
Last season, Konawaena toppled Waiakea 53-48 in the BIIF semifinals, eventually getting the three-peat, reaching states and ensuring the Warriors stayed home, again.
Konawaena had basically the same team as previous years, but Mattos was not the same player as a junior this season.
Mattos scored 24 points in Waiakea’s 60-40 win over Konawaena for the BIIF championship and a 14-0 record in the league.
“We didn’t want to lose to Kona in the same situation for the fourth year in a row,” Mattos said.
The Warriors not only won, but they won by a blowout.
Mattos isn’t a senior, but he played like one. The senior starters — guards Noah Ferreira and Louie Ondo and forward Kahinu Alapai — received honorable mention and were major contributors all season.
It took time, four long years to be exact, but all the pieces came together.
“Last year, Calvin won player of the year. This year his all-around play was better,” Lee said. “We needed him to be more of a distributor instead of carrying the scoring load by himself. Guys would hit a 3-pointer or he’d feed someone an easy shot and that would open up lanes for him, for his style of play, slashing into gaps.
“That part of his game matured. He trusted his teammates more this year and put the ball in their hands in crucial situations. In the preseason against Keaau, for the last shot he passed to Louie and he hit a 3. That showed a maturity and the trust level on Calvin’s part to make a pass like that.”
Lee has been at Waiakea since 2009. The first year on the job and the guy won a BIIF title. But his latest team was different from the rest.
“This is the closet team I’ve had in all my years at Waiakea,” Lee said. “They guys were always together. They got along and trusted each other. We got good senior leadership from Noah and Louie. They’ve been there and have pushed guys hard. And with Calvin the leader he has become that helped. Instead of one guy, the rest of the team had several guys to look up to.”
In 2014, Mililani beat Waiakea 70-62 in the first round at states. Mattos, then a freshman, went 0 for 6 from the field and had zero points in 22 minutes.
Two years later, on Feb. 18, OIA runner-up Kaiser knocked off No. 4 seed Waiakea 77-61 in the quarterfinals. Mattos scored 17 points on 6 of 12 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds.
In a consolation game, Baldwin ousted the Warriors 59-52. But Mattos torched the Bears with 18 points on 8 of 16 shooting.
His production in the BIIF and at states earned him a spot on the 15-member All-State team. Mattos was the only BIIF player recognized, a significant growth spurt.
Lee believes there’s still room for improvement.
“The interesting thing is that there’s a lot more thing he can improve on, like his jump shot and 3-point shot,” Lee said. “That way he’d be way more tougher to stop. He can compete with the best players on Oahu, and he was recognized. Next year, more great things will come. He’ll be a year older and a year stronger.”
All-BIIF Division I
Player of Year: Calvin Mattos, Waiakea
Coach of Year: Paul Lee, Waiakea
First team
Player
Calvin Mattos, Waiakea
Austin Ewing, Konawaena
Pukana Vincent, Kamehameha
Bayley Manliguis, Kamehameha
Isaac Liu, Hilo
Honorable mention
Hilo: Lawrence Padasdao, EJ Narido, Kaimana Kawaha, Josh Breitbarth
Kamehameha: Solomon Escalante, Nalu Kahapea
Keaau: Rico Handy, Kirk Imai, Charles Caldwell-Kaai
Kealakehe: Blaine Broberg
Konawaena: Austin Aukai, Hauoli Akau, Kamakana Ching
Waiakea: Louie Ondo, Noah Ferreira, Kahinu Alapai
