KAPAAU — Nights like these never get old for Kohala boys basketball.
The Cowboys celebrated their second state title in four seasons Wednesday in King Kamehameha Park Gymnasium — awarding rings to the players and coaches from the 2022-23 team. For the seniors who graduated and could not attend, parents accepted the ring in their honor.
Kohala also unveiled its new HHSAA Division II Championship banner next to the 2020 one.
“It was very exciting,” coach Kihei Kapeliela said postgame. “I was looking forward to it for a long time and I’m very happy for the boys.”
Immediately following the celebration, the Cowboys kicked off their Big Island Interscholastic Federation (BIIF) season against St. Joseph’s — picking up right where they left off in terms of island dominance. Kohala won handily by a score of 70-13.
The Cowboys’ aggressive full-court defense was the story of the night, forcing an array of turnovers which led to easy baskets in transition. Layden Kauka, Jayden Hook and Hezekiah Wilson all helped lead Kohala’s fast-paced game plan — which catapulted the defending state champions to a 38-0 start after the first quarter.
“We were aggressive early, then we went back into our zone,” Kapeliela said. “We still need to be aggressive in the zone.”
While the the Cowboys were wrecking havoc defensively, Kapeliela plans to challenge his players to not go for as many steals and to stay home on their 1-on-1 matchups.
“Sometimes, it’s better to force a bad pass than to try to steal the ball every time.”
In the half-court offense, Kohala executed through a drive-and-kick system, which generated a multitude of open looks around the 3-point line. However, Kapeliela wants his team to be always looking to score in the fast break.
“We’ve been really trying to push the ball off of steals and rebounds; we don’t want to settle into half-court,” he added.
Kauka, ScoringLive’s 2023 Division II Player of the Year, finished with a game-high 23 points. Teammate Dillon Oandasan added 11. Amari Wiedemeier led the Cardinals with eight points.
With a full slate of BIIF matchups on deck for the Cowboys for the remainder of the regular season, Kapeliela wants his team to maintain the same energy it showed in the early-season, non-conference games.
And if Kohala wants to repeat as champions, it will need to do so.
“We’ll enjoy tonight, but we haven’t won anything yet,” he said. “We need to get better every game and keep it going against Konawaena.”
The Cowboys (6-2 overall, 1-0 BIIF) will travel south to play the Wildcats at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Ellison Onizuka Gymnasium. St. Joseph’s (0-2) next plays Hawaii Prep at 6:30 p.m. tonight in Castle Gym.
