KILAUEA — Tight wins by Ho‘ouila and Hanakila set the stage for Saturday’s matches Monday night. Ho‘ouila got a game-high 21 points from Willis Botai to hold off a strong comeback effort from the Westside Blue for a 40-38 edge.
KILAUEA — Tight wins by Ho‘ouila and Hanakila set the stage for Saturday’s matches Monday night.
Ho‘ouila got a game-high 21 points from Willis Botai to hold off a strong comeback effort from the Westside Blue for a 40-38 edge.
Nathan Morales put on a strong defensive presence for Wailua in the final period, but the effort fell short as Hanakila held the greenshirts at bay when Marlon Cudiamat rolled in a bucket at the buzzer for the 30-24 win.
Ariel Lahip finished with a dozen points for the Westside White, and despite a strong comeback effort in the fifth frame, the Gee’s Angels dropped to a 33-28 loss to the whiteshirts in Game 2.
The Monday night results will have tight competition on the floor when Ho‘ouila takes on Hanakila starting at 10 a.m. at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center. The second Saturday match will feature the Wailua greenshirts going up against the Westside Whites starting at 11 a.m.
Botai went strong to the hoop from the opening tipoff, leading Ho‘ouila to a 10-2 showing with 8 points including one from 3-point land.
But the Westside Blue battled back from an 18-7 halftime deficit to outscore the yellowshirts in the 4th and 5th frames.
Brandon Palacio, who finished with high-point honors for Blue, netted 4 points in the fourth period and Kaili Lagundino and Keanu Yamaoka stepped to the plate in the fifth frame with scores of 6 and 5 points, respectively. Westside Blue out-pointed Ho‘ouila 8-5, and 11-5 to stay in the contest in those periods.
That set the stage for Botai who exploded for 10 points in the sixth period en route to his game-high 21 points.
Lagundino, who scored his game-total 13 points in the final two frames, pulled the Blue to a 26-26 tie in the last 20 seconds of the fifth frame on a shot from the outside.
Palacio did the same at the 5:48 mark of the 6th period for the 28-28 tie. Lagundino followed that shot with another from 11 o’clock that gave the Blue its first lead of the night, 30-28.
But the effort fell short as Ho‘ouila answered each challenge and a split charity pair by Blue at the :19 mark sealed the Westside fate.
Following Palacio and Lagundino, Westside Blue got 8 points from Paul Oligo Jr., including one trey, and a pair from Christian Garma.
Kerwin Morano stepped behind Botai with 8 points for Ho‘ouila followed by Justin Bautista contributing 4 points, Ricky Tom adding 3 points, and a pair from James Ruiz rounding out the win.
A bucket from Hanakila’s Koa Baclayon followed by a 3-point bomb by Marc Rasa broke open an evenly-matched contest in the 5th period as the Hanakila blackshirts surged to a 9-4 showing over Wailua en route to its win.
But Wailua was not done as Nathan Morales answered in the sixth frame with a drive up the middle that pulled the greenshirts to within 3 points, 26-23 at the 3-minute mark.
That brought spectators to the edge of their seats as possession exchanges ate up the clock.
A Morales layup that fizzled on the rim drew groans from the audience at the 1:28 mark before Rasa pulled Hanakila ahead for good at the 1:00 mark followed by the insurance shot by Marlon at the buzzer.
Ernest Cudiamat, strong in the paint, and Rasa paced the Hanakila attack with 8 and 7 points, respectively. Baclayon finished with 4 points followed by Kawika Wellington adding 3 points.
Angelito Raza, Marlon Cudiamat, Cy Whitlock and Gabe Diaz each netted pairs to round out the win.
Lance Miyashiro paced the Wailua effort with 15 points, including a trey, followed by Morales’ 5 points. Pairs from Makoa Gonsalves and Vince Simon rounded out that effort.
Following Lahip, Westside White got 7 points from Chase Parongao, 5 points from Keoni Ana, 3 points from Darrin Fernandez in its win over Gee’s Angels. Pairs from Garrett Cadiente, Dylan Balisacan and Curran Dela Cruz-Cadonova rounded out the win.
Adam Clark, playing one of the low post positions for the Angels, topped the blueshirt scoring with 13 points followed by Donovan Harrison who finished with 10 points, including 7 in a strong 5th period showing.
