Waiakea 12 8 14 10 — 44
By JOE FERRARO
Stephens Media
Sam Kekuaokalani didn’t totally abandon his system, which demands patience and high-percentage shots around the paint.
But the Kealakehe boys basketball coach, realizing the offensive aggression in his players, has recently given the Waveriders more offensive freedom, summarizing his strategy with the three-word message he gave his team two weeks ago: Let it rain.
It was raining 3-pointers at Kealakehe Wednesday, and the hot shooting carried the Waveriders in a Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division I tournament first-round game.
Junior Deion Utrera scored 23 points, hitting three of Kealakehe’s seven first-half 3s as the Waveriders built a 17-point second-quarter lead before holding off a late Waiakea charge in a 54-44 victory.
West No. 2 seed Kealakehe advanced to Friday’s BIIF semifinals at Hilo’s Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, where the Waveriders will face defending BIIF champion Kamehameha (12-0).
East No. 3 seed Waiakea, which got within five points in the fourth quarter, ended its season 5-8.
“We kept shooting the ball, and the shots just dropped,” Utrera said. “We like to get the fastest open shot.”
Kealakehe hit all seven of its 3s in the first 12 minutes, with Nalu Marks nailing two, and Larry Adarna and Eric Brown sinking one apiece. Brown hit the last one with 3 minutes, 48 seconds left, giving Kealakehe its biggest lead at 31-14.
Brown also played a role as a distributor, driving the lane before kicking the ball out to open shooters. The senior finished with six assists.
Waiakea coach Paul Lee gave all the credit for the 3-point proficiency to the Waveriders, saying the Warriors contested most of the long-range shots.
“Once those went early, I told my assistant coaches, ‘It’s going to be a long night,'” Lee said.
However, the same Kealakehe team that started the game 7-of-10 from 3-point range then went cold from beyond the arc, missing its final 15 shots. All the while, Waiakea, which struggled finding open shots against the Waveriders’ 2-3 zone early in the game, scratched and clawed its way back into the contest.
The Warriors scored the final six points of the first half to get within 31-20 before going on an 8-2 run that got them within 45-40 with 5:34 remaining.
The Waiakea sophomores, Lucas St. George and Dillon Rellez, each scored four points during the spurt, and they finished with 17 and 10 points respectively.
“It’s probably the best game (Rellez) had all year,” Lee said. “Hopefully, it’ll show him what kind of player he can be.”
Kealakehe held off the Warriors with the execution Kekuaokalani normally demands from his players. During three fourth-quarter possessions, the Waveriders patiently worked the ball around the perimeter before finding open cutters for back-door layups.
“They executed to the best of their ability,” Kekuaokalani said.
Senior Keni Souza scored the last of the back-door layups, taking a nice feed from senior Jacob Ontiveros and giving the Waveriders a comfortable 52-42 lead with 1:37 left.
Ontiveros finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, but he played an even bigger role on the defensive end, swatting away what appeared to be two easy fast-break layups in the fourth quarter for two of his three blocked shots.
“That guy is the heart of the team,” Kekuaokalani said.
Kealakehe 23 8 12 11 — 54
Waiakea 12 8 14 10 — 44