By BILL O’REAR
By BILL O’REAR
Tribune-Herald sports editor
Hustling senior Kamu Patnaude celebrated his birthday Friday night by scoring a career-high 24 points and junior Jodd Carter chipped in with 19 to lead the Vikings to an 84-58 win over Kohala in the Larry Manliguis/Hilo High School Holiday Basketball Classic semifinals.
In the other semifinal at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, Pearl City defeated Baldwin 36-30. In consolation action, it was: Waiakea 53, Kamehameha 35 and Keaau 63, Hanalani 41.
In today’s championship game at 8 p.m., it’s Hilo vs. Pearl City. In earlier games, it’s Kohala vs. Baldwin for third place at 6:30 p.m.; Keaau vs. Waiakea for fifth place at 5 p.m.; and Kamehameha vs. Hanalani for seventh place at 3:30 p.m.
Patnaude, a 5-foot-9 guard/small forward, poured in 14 points in the first half and the athletic Carter had eight to set the high intensity tone for the Vikings against the running-and-pressing Cowboys. Hilo led 42-31 at the intermission.
Then in the third quarter, the Vikings outscored Kohala 26-7 to grab a commanding 68-38 advantage. That led to Hilo head coach Jason Mandaquit going deep to his bench in the fourth period when the Cowboys outpointed the Vikings 20-16.
The hosts also got a spark from junior point guard Austin Dante, who finished with 14 points and seven assists in a rock-solid performance as the Vikings played their second straight game without leading scorer Jalen Carvalho, who sat out with a foot injury. He may miss four weeks and that means Mandaquit is looking for his other players to step up and replace Carvalho’s 18 points per game.
But even without Carvalho in the lineup Friday night, Mandaquit got steady efforts from seniors Jacob Genegabus and Kian Kurokawa and junior power forward Drew Kell as they scored inside and often outrebounded the Cowboys to start the Vikings’ potent fastbreak.
Senior Makani Kualii led Kohala with 15 points. Sophomore Kealen Figueroa had 12 and sophomore Mikala Jordan added 10 for veteran coach Don Fernandez.
Carter had the shot of the night, driving the length of the court, side-stepping a Cowboy defender at the last second and flicking up a left-handed layup that dropped through for a basket. The slippery Viking was fouled on the play and then missed the free throw attempt after just making the difficult layup look easy.
In first-round games Thursday, it was: Hilo 55, Hanalani 49; Baldwin 65, Waiakea 51; Pearl City 57, Kamehameha 52; and Kohala 52, Keaau 31.
Friday’s games
Kohala 14 17 7 20 — 58
Hilo 25 17 26 16 — 84
• Pearl City 36, Baldwin 30: Isaac Amorin scored 14 points to lead the Chargers to a hard-fought win in a defensive battle.
Teva Eldredge topped the Bears with 11 points.
The game was tied at 15-15 at the intermission before Baldwin held a 26-22 lead after three periods. However, the Chargers outpointed the Bears 14-4 in the final quarter to pull out the victory and advance to the tournament final.
Baldwin 13 2 11 4 — 30
Pearl City 9 6 7 14 — 14
• Waiakea 53, Kamehameha 35: Mark Pacris scored 12 points and Lucas St. George and Owen Sandstrom each added 10 to spark the public-school Warriors.
Senior Shaun Kagawa led Kamehameha with nine points.
Kamehameha 12 4 4 15 — 35
Waiakea 12 17 11 13 — 53
• Keaau 63, Hanalani 41: Davin Alviento scored 28 points and Edgar Ventura had 25 to lead the young Cougars.
Michael Milton topped Hanalani with nine points.
Hanalani 12 9 11 9 — 41
Keaau 17 17 13 16 — 63
Impact players
The Hawaii National Guard is presenting “Impact Player” plaques to a player in each tournament game.
The award winners from Friday for their strong play include: Game 1, Waiakea’s Owen Sandstrom; Game 2, Keaau’s Edgar Ventura; Game 3, Pearl City’s Sonny Glisson; Game 4, Hilo’s Kamu Patnaude.
Thursday’s winners were: Game 1, Kohala’s Kealen Figueroa; Game 2, Baldwin’s Teva Eldredge; Game 3, Pearl City’s Isaac Glisson; Game 4, Hilo’s Jodd Carter.
3-point contest
The top four shooters from the tournament’s 3-point shooting contest will battle between Games 3 and 4 tonight. The foursome advanced to the final round through the first two days of the shoot-off.
Lucky pre-game snack
Hilo assistant coach Mark Lee watched the first half of the Pearl City vs. Baldwin game on Friday before standing up, softly saying “It’s time for my good luck hotdog” and heading to the concession.
The pregame move must have worked since the Vikings pulled away from Kohala in the second half to chalk up an 84-58 win.
Makes you wonder what would have happened if he had ate two hotdogs.
Thursday’s games
• Hilo 55, Hanalani 49: Jodd Carter scored 16 points, including three 3-pointers, and Drew Kell, Jacob Genegabus and Austin Dante each added eight points to lead the Vikings.
Genegabus also had the shot of the night, a 36-foot 3-pointer that spun around the rim twice before falling through at the third quarter buzzer.
Senior Michael Milton led the Oahu squad with 17 points.
• Pearl City 57, Kamehaeha 52: Isaac Amorin had 19 points and Sonny Glisson 16 to lead the Chargers.
Ilikai Calip had 19 points and Rylen Kiko 17 for the Warriors.
Kamehameha 18 16 7 11 — 52
Pearl City 12 12 19 14 — 57
• Baldwin 65, Waiakea 51: Teva Eldredge had 19 points and Kody Takushi and Bradley Bowlin 10 apiece to lead the Bears.
Junior Lucas St. George led the Warriors with a game-high 20 points.
Baldwin 7 22 19 17 — 65
Waiakea 16 13 16 6 — 51
• Kohala 52, Keaau 31: Kealen Figueroa had 23 points and Makani Kualii 12 to lead the Cowboys.
Davin Alviento led the Cougars with 15 points.
Kohala 9 14 17 12 — 52
Keaau 13 7 7 4 — 31