KEAAU — Hilo was a heavy favorite over Keaau in a BIIF Division I basketball game on Friday night at the Cougars Gym, where a strict no-fan policy was in place.
On Tuesday, the BIIF instituted an indefinite no-fan policy for all sporting events.
It wasn’t surprising that the Vikings smashed the Cougars 54-19, behind Rayson Padilla’s 19 points.
The game will likely be forgotten quickly by most of the players in short time, except for one Cougar, who scored a basket for the Vikings.
It’s one of those moments that rarely happens, like a soccer player accidentally scoring an own goal.
After Jayden Villena swished a 3-pointer and scored on a layup to put Hilo ahead 7-0, Keaau inbounded the ball under the Vikings’ basket. The helpful Cougar got the ball and was all alone. He apparently forgot where Keaau’s basket was and banked in a shot.
“Do you count that for Hilo?” asked scoreboard operator Jun Pagala, who stepped down as coach. Adam McGuire, who was the junior varsity coach, has filled Pagala’s shoes.
Padilla scored to give Hilo an 11-0 lead before senior Damon Sharp hit 1 of 2 free throws to get the Cougars on the scoreboard with 2:53 left in the first quarter.
Peyton Pana added 10 points, Villena had eight points, RJ Solmerin scored seven points, and Trey Une had six points for the Vikings (2-0), who led 30-8 at halftime.
Junior guard Joshua Kahoalii scored eight points, and senior Philip Javier added three points on a 3-pointer for the Cougars, who committed 31 turnovers.
Hilo committed 16 turnovers and sat its starters for half the game.
“We improved since the last game (47-40 win over Konawaena),” Hilo coach Ben Pana said. “We were able to get everybody quality minutes. Overall, I’m pretty happy how the team played.”
The Cougars didn’t handle Hilo’s ball pressure well, but the one thing they do is share the ball. They often took open shots but couldn’t hit many.
Ben Pana has the Vikings playing unselfish ball, too.
To start the third quarter, Padilla had a breakaway and instead of scoring an easy layup he passed to Solmerin, who scored for a 32-8 lead.
Hilo outscored Keaau 15-4 in the third quarter, capping a 15-0 run when Padilla buried a 3-pointer for a 45-8 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Pana scored twice, Villena swished his second 3-ball, and Padilla scored on a layup off a turnover for a 54-14 cushion.
Javier buried a 3-pointer, and Reggie Parks made 2 of 2 free throws for the final score.
Kealakehe at Konawaena: Saturday’s game was postponed because of COVID-19 cases, according to the BIIF, and will be rescheduled.
Kamehameha at Ka’u: Friday’s game was postponed because of COVID-19 protocols and will be rescheduled.