Editor’s note: This story has been modified, deleting content regarding UH-Hilo’s use of Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
Editor’s note: This story has been modified, deleting content regarding UH-Hilo’s use of Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
Kamehameha captured the boys championship at the Hilo High Holiday Prep Classic when everyone expected the other team up by 16 points to win it.
The Warriors rallied past the host Vikings 51-49 on Saturday night at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
Hilo thumped Honokaa 38-22 for the girls title in what felt like a preview for the BIIF semifinals. (The girls BIIF playoffs will be held at Kealakehe High’s gym.)
It was a stark contrast in playing styles in the Holiday Prep Classic championships.
For the girls, Hilo and Honokaa played like HHSAA state tournament teams, pressuring the ball, applying patience for clean looks, and surrendering a minimum of easy points (layups, putbacks, and free throws).
For the boys, Kamehameha and Hilo played traditional BIIF style ball, attacking the rim whenever possible, taking tons of jump shots, and forgetting that there’s no shot clock.
The Vikings’ lack of time management cost them. They entered the fourth quarter up 41-34 but rushed too many shots and coughed up the ball a little too much.
That wasn’t the only problem.
“We chart our shots, and we missed 15 layups,” Hilo coach Bruce Ferreira said. “During warm-ups, we shouldn’t miss any layups. Come game time, that’s what’s going to happen. We had too many turnovers. We tried to dribble through traffic instead of passing the ball.
“It was a tough, tough loss, and it hurts being up by 16 points. But it was a good preseason learning experience. First of all, we’ve got to take care of the ball.”
Kamehameha forced 12 turnovers and scored six points off free gifts. Hilo created 14 turnovers but saw no points off those giveaways because the Warriors clogged their running lanes.
Ferreira also searched for a silver lining and found a few bright spots for both sides.
“We played three quarters of excellent ball,” he said. “But that last quarter, we fell apart. We need to work together, hold a lead, and take care of the ball.
“The biggest thing is they played with composure and fought back. They did a good job.”
The last paragraph Ferreira was referring to the Warriors, not his team. But Hilo’s hiccups were fundamental issues, not technical ones like poor shooting mechanics that are tough habits to break.
The Vikings get an extended preseason to sharpen themselves at the Saint Francis tournament on Oahu this week.
As for the Warriors, they open their BIIF season at Honokaa on Tuesday. It’ll be the third time in 10 days the two are battling. (They split two games during the preseason.)
Kamehameha was short-handed in its comeback win over Hilo; 6-foot-5 junior forward Nalu Kahapea was under the weather.
Basically, the Warriors didn’t have a post game, and they not only missed Kahapea’s back-to-the-basket game but also his double-digit rebounding.
“When we were down 16 points, nobody in the gym, except our team, thought we would win,” Kamehameha coach Vince Ulloa said. “But the guys kept fighting. We tried applying a bit more pressure, and things started to happen.
“At first, we couldn’t contain them. They were beating us off the dribble. But we put pressure on them, stayed in front of them, and forced them to take tough shots.”
In the first half, the Warriors went just 4 of 21 from the floor. They finished 14 of 46, same as Hilo.
Other than the costly turnovers, the difference was Kamehameha’s transition game. If layups weren’t converted, at least someone got to the line.
But that was another story.
The Warriors buried only 16 of 31 free throws for a Shaq-like 52 percent. Solomon Escalante, who’s got the smoothest stroke, sank 5 of 7; everyone else was Clank City.
“When we finished layups, our energy was spreading,” Ulloa said. “And it wasn’t just one player but a lot of different guys.”
Escalante scored 16 points, Cullen Cariaga 13, and Cody Cook added 10 points for the Warriors, who spaced the floor with two 3-pointers each from Escalante and Payton Grahovac.
Isaac Liu scored nine points, Lawrence Padasdao, Liko Medeiros and Kekaukahi Alameda each had seven points for the Vikings, who couldn’t get their top gunners, Liu and Padasdao, into any sort of shooting groove.
Meanwhile, the Warriors catch something of a break when they face the Dragons at the Honokaa county gym instead of the school’s Honokaa Armory, which is still lagging in repair.
Honokaa Armory rivals Hilo Armory as the island’s top echo chamber and provides a strong home-court advantage.
Still, Ulloa knows life is always tough if you can’t cash in on easy points.
“Definitely, our free throw shooting percentage has to improve,” he said. “But I was really proud of the guys. Nobody believed we could come back but us.
“As long as we believe and keep playing hard and working hard, whether we win or lose we’ll be all right.”
If the Warriors do all that, maybe they’ll find themselves playing for a BIIF championship. Their last title was in 2012.