KAILUA-KONA — After competing against some of the top competition in the state on Oahu over the Christmas break, Hawaii Prep opened its BIIF season on Wednesday with a dominating road win over Kealakehe.
Hawaii Prep showed why the school is considered one of the favorites to take the Division II league crown by jumping out early on the Waveriders before rolling to a 52-32 victory.
“We had some goals of coming out with good, positive energy and playing hard,” said Ka Makani head coach Fred Wawner. “We are obviously excited to get our league season started and I think we have been in some good situations that have prepared us for the start of league play.”
Hawaii Prep (1-0) had a well balanced attack with juniors Valentinas Ulinas and Michael Hughes scoring 13 and 12 points, respectively. Junior Javan Perez followed with 9.
Junior Howard Robert led Kealakehe (1-3) with 10 points, five of which came in the final minute of the game.
“This is a hard place to win. Coach Benny Alcoran and Kealakehe have had our number the last couple of years,” Wawner said. “I was really proud of our effort in the first half. We were playing our style, we protected our rim pretty well and we were able to run some stuff from the half court and get some baskets. Definitely a good win for us.”
On paper, Ka Makani looks like it can outmatch anyone in the paint, with two players at 6-foot-5 and six other players over six feet. However, they did most of their damage against the Waveriders from mid and long-range.
“We would like to try to establish the inside as much as we can, but just because you are tall it doesn’t mean you can score down there,” Wawner said with a laugh. “We are still working on that but we had a lot of guys contribute tonight and that is what we are focused on, getting as many players in the game as we can.”
Hawaii Prep wasted little time taking command in the first period. Hughes put Ka Makani up on back-to-back short jumpers. He found a lot of success from mid-range, finishing the quarter with eight points, while also giving Hawaii Prep an 11-5 advantage midway through the opening frame.
“Michael is the one anchor we have been able to find and we want him to be very aggressive and get as many looks as he can,” Wawner said. “We are going to keep feeding him.”
Freshman Tre Walker knocked down a trey at the buzzer to put Ka Makani up 20-7.
Shooting from beyond the arc, Hawaii Prep increased its lead to 17 after 3-pointers by Perez and Ulinas in the first two minutes of the second period. Ka Makani then went cold for the next four minutes with several missed shots. However, Kealakehe found the points hard to come by as well as Hawaii Prep’s defense clamped down, forcing a pair of steals and easy baskets.
“The offensive will come, you just need the defense to stay with you until it does and that is what happened for us tonight,” Wawner said. “We were able to get some transition baskets, which are usually tough for us to come by.”
The game entered the half with Ka Makani leading 30-11 after senior Matija Vitorovic rolled in a shot off a rebound with only seconds remaining.
Out of the break, the Waveriders outscored Hawaii Prep 7-1, with shots coming from three different players. Ka Makani got a boost late in the frame by Ulinas, who sunk a pair of shots before knocking down a 3-pointer with 30 seconds on the clock to put his team up 43-21.
Ulinas continued to stop any momentum Kealakehe tried to build in the final period. The Waveriders opened the frame by outscoring Hawaii Prep 6-3, but back-to-back layups by the 6-foot-5 forward ended the rally before it could begin.
“Valentinas is really talented. It is just a matter of him understanding how he can best help his teammates,” Wawner said. “He is a big kid, but he can also shoot.”
Robert, a sophomore guard for Kealakehe, began to find his shot in the final minutes. After spending most of the game driving and dishing, Robert rolled in a layup and then added a 3-point play with a short jumper and a free throw. However, with Ka Makani firmly in control, the clock would run out on any possible comeback attempt.
Before Wednesday’s league opener, Hawaii Prep had kept busy, with the team taking on a challenging gauntlet of preseason tournaments. After playing a pair of preseason games in Hilo to open play, Hawaii Prep found time to take a trip to Oahu just before Christmas to take on various teams at Iolani, including Moanalua, Mid-Pacific, Roosevelt and California’s Sierra Canyon.
Ka Makani went 1-3 at the Iolani tournament, but kept the game close in three of the four contests, with the lone lopsided loss coming against Sierra Canyon.
“We were able to see how big the ocean was, for sure,” Wawner said of the trip. “We felt a little like Nemo in that first game with Sierra Canyon when we were out-matched, but we were able to test ourselves against three very solid Hawaii teams and that is what we went over there to do.”
With their first league victory now behind them, Ka Makani will try to keep the momentum going in a home game against Ka’u on Saturday.
Kealakehe, who has lost its last three league games, will try to get back into the win column on Friday against a Parker team that’s coming off one of the program’s biggest victories after defeating Konawaena on Wednesday.
