KEAAU – It took Honokaa senior Kelvin Falk a while to warm up, but once he got hot no one from Keaau could stop him off the dribble.
Falk scored 17 points and sparked an uptempo attack as the Dragons beat Keaau 54-44 in a BIIF basketball game Monday night at the Cougars Gym.
There was a nice turnout for Keaau’s Senior night for starters Reynaldo Arcellana, Tzion Carland, and backup Ashton Aki.
Falk scored eight of his 17 points in a decisive fourth quarter, when the Dragons outscored the Cougars 18-7. The 5-foot-11 guard beat his defender off the dribble and dropped in three layups in the final eight minutes.
When Falk wasn’t attacking the rim, he was feeding Kamuela Spencer-Herring, who scored 11 points while Bong Pancho added eight points for the Division II Dragons (7-1), who shot 37 percent (17 of 44) from the floor, including 10 of 21 in the second half.
Rico Handy scored 16 points and Patrick Mears added 12 points for the Division I Cougars (6-3), who hit 33 percent (15 of 46) from the field, including just 5 of 25 in the second half.
Falk and Spencer-Herring were frequent visitors to the free throw line. Falk went 7 of 11 while Spencer-Herring was 5 of 9. Honokaa made 17 of 27 from the line; Keaau went just 8 of 20.
After a 50-48 last-second home loss to Kamehameha, the Cougars won five in a row, beating Kealakehe, Laupahoehoe, Ka u, Kohala, and St. Joe, none above .500 except for the Division I Waveriders.
Stop that streak at five because Honokaa’s uptempo style was too much for the Cougars, who dropped into third place in the Division I standings.
They just couldn’t close gaps when the ball was moving at a lightning pace. Either Falk hit a layup (four in all) or his big, the 6-3 Spencer-Herring, got the line.
In the fourth quarter, Falk scored eight points during Honokaa’s 10-point run that provided a comfortable 48-39 cushion with 1:08 remaining.
Brandon Pagala drilled a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 50-44 with 37 seconds left, but the Cougars couldn’t score again.
In the third quarter, the Dragons beat Keaau off the dribble and got to the line, where they made 4 of 6 free throws. But the Cougars finished strong with Mears dropping a layup for a 37-36 lead with 7.2 seconds left.
Keaau ran into halftime with a 27-24 lead, which could have been closer if Kea Callihan, who had no one around him, didn’t miss a first-quarter dunk.
The Cougars did a solid job handling Honokaa’s full-court press, often breaking it but couldn’t attack and score. They also played solid transition defense in the first half, giving up only one layup, while dropping in five layups.
Also in the first half, Keaau forced 10 turnovers and outscored Honokaa off giveaways 6-0, and Handy was often the one converting those free gifts into points. Handy had 10 points in the first 16 minutes while Mears added eight points.
The visitors found a way to the free throw line and drilled just 8 of 16 while Keaau buried 4 of 10 free throws.
In the JV, it was Keaau 59, Honokaa 39.
Honokaa 12 12 12 18 — 54
Keaau 15 12 10 7 — 44
Hawaii Prep 70, Hilo 64, 2OT
Jonah Hurney scored 22 points, including a 3-pointer to start the second overtime, and Matija Vitorovic added 19, making sure Ka Makani didn’t lose another double-overtime thriller in Waimea.
Isaac Liu scored a season-high 29 points for the Vikings (3-5), who cut into a narrow fourth-quarter deficit but suffered a costly loss in the Division I playoff race.
HPA (5-3) is in no danger of missing the Division II playoffs, but it avoided a 2OT home loss like the one it suffered Jan. 5 against Kamehameha.
Crescent Nobriga scored 10 points for the Vikings, who remained in last place and are 2 1/2 games out fourth place.
Hilo’s JV won 48-41.
Hilo 11 13 16 10 8 6–64
HPA 12 12 19 7 8 12–70
Waiakea 71, Kohala 56
Calvin Mattos led all scorers with 21 points and Treyson Ishimoto added 10 as the host Warriors improved to 6-1.
Isaiah Salvador scored 11 points for the Cowboys (2-5), who fell into a tie for third with St. Joseph in Division II.
Kohala 5 12 12 17– 56
Waiakea 14 23 17 17– 71
Kamehameha 67, Laupahoehoe 27
Payton Grahovac scored 15 points and the visiting Warriors (6-2) moved into third place in Division I.
Roman Kozinskiy led the Seasiders (0-9) with 16 points.
KSH 26 22 10 9 –67
Laupahoehoe 8 4 9 6 –27
Saturday/girls
Saydee Aganus scored 14 points and Jordyn Mantz added 10 as the host Warriors finished the regular season 7-3.
Bella Fernandez led the Dragons with eight points.
