Pahoa 5 6 13 12 — 25 By BILL O’REAR ADVERTISING Tribune-Herald sports editor Sonny Miguel scored 24 points and Nick Fisher had 19, including a free throw with 3.3 seconds left, to give Pahoa a hard-fought 74-73 win over
By BILL O’REAR
Tribune-Herald sports editor
Sonny Miguel scored 24 points and Nick Fisher had 19, including a free throw with 3.3 seconds left, to give Pahoa a hard-fought 74-73 win over Hilo on Wednesday night.
A small crowd watched the exciting, high tempo Big Island Interscholastic Federation boys basketball game at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
In other BIIF games Wednesday, it was: Waiakea 47, Ka’u 37; Keaau 68, St. Joseph 66 double overtime; Konawaena 53, Honokaa 41; and Kohala 56, Hawaii Preparatory Academy 54.
The Vikings (2-2) amped up their full-court pressure in the first half, leading 16-15 at the end of the fast-paced first period and then carrying a 37-32 lead into the intermission.
But Miguel, a gutsy 5-foot-3 senior guard, poured in 14 of his game-high 24 points in the second half and Fisher, a talented 6-1 junior, added 11 points and started to control the glass as the Division II Daggers (4-1) hung close until finally pulling out the victory in the final seconds.
Hilo led 57-50 heading into the fourth quarter. However, Pahoa started to chip away and tied the contest at 61-61 on Fisher’s soaring layup at the 5:44 mark.
The game was tied at 63, 65, 67 and finally at 73 on Pahoa’s Raymond Kawaihalau-Baldonado’s power layup with :21 remaining.
The Vikings then had a chance to take the lead but sophomore Jalen Carvalho missed on a eight-foot runner with :08 left and the Daggers rebounded and called time out.
Hilo pressed full court and Fisher was fouled at 3.3 seconds when Viking sophomore Drew Kell dove for the ball and slid into the Daggers’ standout.
Hilo coach Jason Mandaquit then called time out to try and ice Fisher. But after the short break, the confident Pahoa senior stepped to the free-throw line and swished his first shot, giving the hustling visitors a 74-73 lead.
When Fisher missed his second free throw, the Vikings rebounded and Carvalho fired up a long desperation shot as the buzzer sounded. The ball missed the mark and the Marc Saito-coached Daggers celebrated another tough win over the D-I Vikings.
The Daggers outscored the Vikings 24-16 in the fourth period.
Pahoa freshman sharpshooter Tolby Saito followed Fisher with nine points and both Saito and Miguel each had three 3-pointers. Teammates Kawaihalau-Baldonado and Devin Freitas-Gonsalves had eight points apiece to help fuel the Daggers’ balanced attack.
Carvalho, a smooth 6-1 shooting guard, led Hilo with 23 points and sophomore Jodd Carter had 21, including 13 in the frantic second half. Both Carvalho and Carter had three treys while senior Rico Loeak added 13 points.
Senior point guard Kainoa Kawaha led the Vikings with nine assists and three steals, but he did not score a point while running the potent Hilo attack.
Fisher led the Daggers with 11 rebounds and Kawaihalau-Baldonado had eight. Carvalho led the hosts with 10 rebounds and Kell had nine.
The Daggers will host Waiakea on Friday night in the first-ever boys basketball game played at the new Pahoa High gym. On Tuesday night, the Daggers hosted Ka’u in the first girls game.
JV: Hilo 55, Pahoa 44. Hilo: Stephen Hunter, 14 (3 treys); AJ Matsumoto, 12. Pahoa: Thearl Tadeo, 13; Kevin Lee, 10.
Pahoa 15 17 18 24 — 74
Hilo 16 21 20 16 — 73
* Waiakea 47, Ka’u 37: At Pahala, junior Owen Sandstrom scored 22 points and sophomore Lucas St. George 15 to lead the D-I Warriors (2-3).
Holden Galigo and Royden Esperon each scored seven points to lead the D-II Trojans (1-4).
JV: Waiakea 52, Ka’u 36. Wai: Kyle Kua-Ramirez, 15. Ka’u: Larry Navarro, 10.
Waiakea 12 13 19 13 — 47
Ka’u 11 13 7 6 — 37
* Keaau 68, St. Joe 66, 2OT: The Cougars stole an inbounds pass, setting up Ilikai Calip’s game-winning shot at the buzzer in double overtime as host Keaau got its first win of the season.
Calip, a junior, led four players in double figures with 15 points for the Cougars (1-4). Senior Cliff Eriksson scored 14 points, junior Davin Alviento added 13 and senior Roger Carlos had 10.
The Cardinals (2-3) had five players reach double figures. Senior guard Sebi Ohara-Saft shook off an ankle injury for 16 points, seniors Isaac Pacheco and Thomas Fairman and freshman Matthew Fairman each contributed 12 points, and senior Austin Lee had 11.
St. Joseph 8 15 20 9 8 6 — 66
Keaau 12 9 18 13 8 8 — 68
* Konawaena 53, Honokaa 41: Junior guard Kenan Gaspar scored 14 points, and sophomore Jonah Bredeson added 13 for the host Wildcats (3-0), who led by as many as 24 midway through the third quarter.
Alika Alip led the Dragons (0-3) with 12 points, and Cjay Carvalho added eight.
JV: Konawaena 42, Honokaa 29.
Honokaa 13 6 6 16 — 41
Konawaena 17 8 16 12 — 53
* Kohala 56, HPA 54: At Waimea, senior Chris Roxburgh scored 21 points to lead the fired-up Cowboys (3-0) in the battle of West Division II title contenders.
Junior Jovan Crnic scored 16 points and senior Dakota Berman 14 to lead the Ka Makani (2-1).
JV: HPA 66, Kohala 29. HPA: Buck Thomas, 17; Hide Akai, 11. Kohala: Shawn Estabilio, 8.
Kohala 15 15 12 14 — 56
HPA 23 12 9 10 — 54
Girls
* Ka’u 54, Pahoa 25: At Pahoa, Janessa Jara scored 19 points to lead the Division II Trojans (1-1) on Tuesday night as the Daggers hosted their first-ever game in Pahoa High’s new gym.
Randi Berinobis scored 12 points to lead the Division II Daggers (0-2).
Ka’u 9 16 24 7 — 54
Pahoa 5 6 13 12 — 25
