Calvin Mattos kept coming to the rescue for Waiakea at the Hilo High Holiday Prep Basketball Classic championship on Saturday at Hilo Civic, showing that his second greatest skill may be coming through in the clutch. ADVERTISING Calvin Mattos kept
Calvin Mattos kept coming to the rescue for Waiakea at the Hilo High Holiday Prep Basketball Classic championship on Saturday at Hilo Civic, showing that his second greatest skill may be coming through in the clutch.
The junior guard scored 33 points to carry the Warriors over Baldwin 71-69 in overtime, reminding everyone in the stands why he’s the reigning BIIF Division I player of the year.
When Waiakea desperately needed points, Mattos came through in different ways: at the free throw line, from long distance or with his favorite right-handed floater.
For a long while, it looked like the disciplined Bears, who have a good habit of making an extra bounce pass in the post for a better shot, would take the championship trophy back to Maui.
Baldwin senior Sam Balantac is an undersized low-post forward at 6 feet. But once he catches the ball, he’s really quick at turning and getting off his shot. He scored four straight baskets in the fourth quarter and looked unstoppable.
The tough, athletic Bear finished with 30 points, including a layup in transition to cap his personal eight-point scoring spree. He’s not only a low-post technician but also quick enough to score on fast breaks.
His last layup handed Baldwin a 58-49 cushion with under a minute left. The small but vocal visiting crowd from the Valley Isle were thinking where they were going to eat. The game looked like it was in the bag.
“The kids showed a lot of heart,” Waiakea coach Paul Lee said of his team’s improbable nine-point comeback win. “In the first tourney, we didn’t have all our guys. Kahinu Alapai is a big difference. Calvin’s all-around play is getting his scoring back.”
But Warriors aren’t afraid of Bears, especially ones from the Big Island who carry long-range firepower.
Noah Ferreira, who added 15 points, drilled a 3-pointer. Then the Warrior senior guard dropped in a floater. Off a turnover, Mattos was fouled and buried two free throws to get Waiakea within 58-56 with 21 seconds to play.
On the ensuing inbound, the Bears, who complimented their post attack with a nice transition game, got the ball to Balantac who was ready to put the finishing touches on Waiakea with another layup.
But out of nowhere, two-time BIIF cross country champion and senior guard Louie Ondo flew like a determined Warrior and blocked Balantac’s shot. Mattos got the rebound and was fouled.
From there the countdown to Mattos’ clutch work can be detailed.
With 11.7 seconds on the clock, Mattos swished both free throws to tie the game at 58-58 and force overtime. (His half-court prayer at the buzzer bounced off the backboard, touched the rim and went unanswered.)
Down 65-63 with 2:27 left, Mattos scored Waiakea’s last 10 points in OT, after Ferreira drilled his second 3-pointer of the game.
Mattos knocked down consecutive 3-balls, the latter leveling the score 69-69 with 1:07 to go.
Then Waiakea’s fullcourt pressure produced another Bear turnover. The Bears had 15 giveaways in all, and the Warriors seemed to capitalize on most of them at just the right time. Waiakea had 11 turnovers but none that proved overwhelmingly painful.
With 22.6 seconds left, Mattos took the ball at the top of the key and was guarded by Taje Akana, a mobile senior forward. Mattos took him off the dribble, sneaked through a lane, and hit his favorite right-handed floater for a 71-69 lead.
There was 3.0 seconds showing on the clock, and Baldwin senior guard Warren Feike’s low-percentage, long-range shot harmlessly rolled off the rim as time expired.
One of the reasons, Mattos is so hard to guard one-on-one is because he’s a two-way, dribble-penetration threat. He’s left-handed but grew up shooting floaters with his right hand.
If defenses foul him, that’s playing with fire. Was it mentioned that he’s clutch on the line? Mattos went 6 of 6 on free throws, all in the fourth quarter.
Kahinu Alapai, a low-post presence, added eight points for Waiakea, which shot 44 percent (25 of 57) from the field, missing a ton of clean long-range looks against Baldwin’s 1-2-2 zone.
To prevent picking up cheap fouls with the tight hand-check calls, the Warriors played a small dose of man and a majority of the time in a matchup 2-3 zone and held the Bears to 47 percent (24 of 51) shooting.
Neither team advanced to the HHSAA Division I state tournament last season. But both teams ignored the fact that it was a preseason game. The Bears and Warriors went after each other, as if there were food on the table in the middle of winter.
The Bears had good spacing and patience, found open post players (most often Balantac), and made 21 of 33 free throws. When the Warriors weren’t firing from the perimeter, they attacked the rim and drilled 14 of 22 free throws.
Lanky junior forward Prince Shields provided Alapai a post defensive partner when both were in at the same time. The Warrior guards — Mattos, Ondo and Ferreira — worked hard to bother Baldwin’s perimeter shooters and give them a Big Island headache.
But when the Warriors found themselves staring at a deficit and desperately needing points, they put the ball in Mattos’ hands and he was a big-time clutch player. He was named the tourney’s MVP. More than anything, his trophy and his coach’s words summed up his greatest skill.
“Calvin is getting better as a leader. Before he was quiet. Now he’s communicating and getting guys into the right position,” Lee said. “He’s finally the leader we want him to be. I can see that he trusts his teammates.
“The thing is he makes everybody better.”
