LIHU‘E — Though Kapa‘a High School was downed by Pahoa in Friday’s semifinals of the Hawaiian Airlines HHSAA Div. II Boys Basketball Championship, the Warriors bounced back with a 55-37 win over Academy of the Pacific in the third-place game,
LIHU‘E — Though Kapa‘a High School was downed by Pahoa in Friday’s semifinals of the Hawaiian Airlines HHSAA Div. II Boys Basketball Championship, the Warriors bounced back with a 55-37 win over Academy of the Pacific in the third-place game, Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center on O‘ahu.
Kapa‘a (13-3) used a huge second half after leading AOP (16-5) by just four at halftime, 23-19.
Senior guard Stephen Greenleaf was the game’s top scorer with 18 points on an efficient 9 for 12 shooting from the field.
Point guard Willis Batol played larger than his 5-foot, 6-inch frame, leading Kapa‘a with seven rebounds and adding 10 points and three assists.
Forward Duke Pauli, the team’s most consistent scorer throughout the season, struggled with his shot and scored just four points on 2 for 15 shooting, but did grab six boards and handed out four assists.
Senior center Sean Shigematsu, playing in his final game on the hardwood before heading to the University of Hawai‘i as a lineman for the Warrior football squad, had eight points and five rebounds.
Senior guard Kekoa Colipano had nine points and was 2 for 2 from behind the three-point arc.
Seniors Jefferson Harper and Jason Iloreta, along with junior forward Spam Lindsey, scored two points apiece.
Micah Dunhour had 15 points and nine rebounds for AOP, while Simon Koch scored 12 and grabbed 10 boards.
Kapa‘a’s defense was the difference as it did not allow the AOP offense to get into a rhythm, holding it to just 37.5 percent shooting in the game.
The Warriors also forced 20 turnovers and committed just 10, while getting hot from the field in the second half. They shot 15 for 27 (56 percent) from the floor in the final two quarters.
Pahoa, the team that eliminated Kapa‘a Friday night, went on to grab the state title with a 41-38 championship game win over Kailua at the SSC.
Pahoa (9-9) entered the tournament three games under .500 for the season, but won its three HHSAA games, including an opening-round upset of top-seeded Roosevelt.
Using just six players, Pahoa was led by Nick Fisher’s 17 points and Isaiah Ekau’s 12 points and 13 rebounds.
After ther game, Ekau was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
Kailua (15-5) held a 26-24 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but Pahoa used a 9-0 run at the beginning of the period to take control and went on to grab the state title.
In the Div. I championship game, No. 1 ‘Iolani clawed its way back from a 10-point, first quarter deficit to eke out a 46-43 victory over Kamehameha-Kapalama, thanks to a game-winning 3-pointer from Kainoa Chu.
Chu, who scored a game-high 27 points, nailed a triple — his fifth of the night — with just eight seconds to play, breaking a 43-43 tie.
Micah Christensen did all he could for KS-Kapalama (16-5), notching 23 points and 11 rebounds, but ‘Iolani (15-2) showed its resiliency by regrouping from early struggles and hoisted the Div. I crown in the final game of the season.
