No. 1 Castle rallied in the final two minutes of the game to gain the lead — the Knights’ first lead since late in the first quarter — and beat the unranked Kapa‘a Warriors 49-46 in the quarterfinal of the
No. 1 Castle rallied in the final two minutes of the game to gain the lead — the Knights’ first lead since late in the first quarter — and beat the unranked Kapa‘a Warriors 49-46 in the quarterfinal of the Hawaiian Airlines/Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association’s Division II State Basketball Championships at Farrington High School.
Kapa‘a led for the majority of the game until its late-game collapse in the fourth quarter. Kapa‘a led by as many as 12 points in the game, and led 38-30 heading down the final stretch. Castle went on an 8-0 run in the beginning of the fourth, tying it when Michael Santos was sent to the line after a foul by Kekoa Colipano. Banking both, the game was all square at 38-38.
Kapa‘a’s Duke Pauli made good on a jumper a few plays following to reclaim the lead, then a free throw by Colipano brought the Warriors (8-4) back up by three.
Castle answered with consecutive jumpers from Isaiah Tilton and Jordan Aleki with 2 minutes left to play. The top-ranked Knights never looked back.
Lewis Lindsey made a key 3-pointer — his second of the night — to bring Kapa‘a back to within a point with 25 seconds left. Late in the game Kapa‘a was without its leading scorer Kekoa Prem and big man Sean Shigematsu because both had fouled out.
Prem left the game leading all scorers with 16 points and seven rebounds. Pauli had eight points and 12 rebounds.
Castle was led by Santos who finished with 15 points. Tilton added 12 points and Nick Tuamoheloa had 11.
Castle (16-2) moves onto the semifinals against No. 4 Moloka‘i. Kapa‘a will play in a consolation game against Pahoa at 5 p.m. on Friday at Farrington.
