A young Kohala High School team took home the state championship earlier this month after one of the school’s most successful boys basketball seasons yet.
After winning state championship in 2020, head coach Kihei Kapeliela took a completely new team to states and won again.
“We’re always hoping we’d go far, but we have a very young team. Our starters were two sophomores, a freshman, a junior and one senior,” Kapeliela said. “A majority of the team played (together) growing up, so I think that makes a huge difference when you get to the high school level.”
Lawrence Kauka, who is the father of two starting players, coached most of the team in Kohala’s feeder program called Never Stop Playing, or NSP.
“A lot of these boys have a tight bond from playing their whole lives together, and that really set us apart this year,” Kapeliela said.
The Kohala Cowboys started their season strong with a tough matchup with No.1 Division I St. Louis from Oahu. While they defeated four teams in the preseason, the Cowboys only lost by three to St. Louis.
After the tournament in Kauai, the boys were ready for the league season, but were shocked by a 66-59 loss against Ka‘u High.
“It was awesome to compete with the top teams in the state, so we were ready to go when we came back to the Big Island,” Kapeliela said. “Our loss against Ka‘u was a wake-up call, though. We got everything together, practiced harder, then we won the next 15 games.”
Kohala played several teams that were older and bigger than them. Kohala depended on conditioning and speed exercises to give them a boost over other teams.
“Our young, small team had a secret weapon of speed and stamina, and it worked to our advantage,” Kapeliela said.
The starting line-up consists of freshman Layden Kauka, sophomores Jayden Hook and Isaac Libron, junior Landon Kauka and senior Trevor Figueroa.
“Our starting team is strong, but no one is more important than the other. All 12 boys win and lose together as a family,” Kapeliela said. “We also would not have made it far without my assistant coach Reeve Cazimero, as well as all the help I get from Robin Marquez, Paul Antonio and Elijah Antonio. They make my job a lot easier.”
When they got to playoffs, they took off with a crucial win against Kalani High on Kalani’s own court on Oahu.
“Kalani hosted the first couple of games, and it was tough because they were really tough,” Kapeliela said. “We were down by 14 in second quarter, and we kept fighting, kept playing hard, and we ended up winning.”
The Cowboys played Hawaii Baptist next, who were just as short and scrappy as Kohala. After winning that game by 15, Kohala’s final game was in the championship against University Lab at the Stan Sheriff Center.
“University was a really big team. Their tallest player is 6’6” and ours is 5’11” but we didn’t let that deter us,” Kapiela said. “We did what we always do, kept the pressure, and kept playing hard.”
Layden Kauka had been the leading scorer for most of the year, but he was having a bad game for the first three quarters. The game was neck-and-neck in all four quarters.
“When we finally tied up, I told him we needed a basket. It was his time,” Kapiela said. “He had the game-winner, and now we have him for three more years.”
The Cowboys won the state championship and represented the Big Island’s Division II with a win of 40-38. They finished their overall season 19-2 and 10-1 in BIIF play.
While the team is taking a break to rest after a thrilling season, Kapiela is excited to get them back in the gym to continue developing their game.
Email Kelsey Walling at kwalling@hawaiitribune-herald.com.