Kohala 18 11 13 10 9 — 61 By KEVIN JAKAHI ADVERTISING Tribune-Herald sports writer PAHOA — The new 900-seat, $13.4 million gym was bright and beautiful, and so was Pahoa’s first game in its shiny home. Junior Devin Freitas-Gonsalves
By KEVIN JAKAHI
Tribune-Herald sports writer
PAHOA — The new 900-seat, $13.4 million gym was bright and beautiful, and so was Pahoa’s first game in its shiny home.
Junior Devin Freitas-Gonsalves scored 19 points and was equally important on the defensive end to spark the Daggers over Waiakea 59-45 in a Big Island Interscholastic Federation boys basketball game Friday night.
Junior Nick Fisher added 14 points and senior Sonny Miguel had 11 for the Division II Daggers (5-1), who were sizzling from the field, shooting 50 percent (18 of 36), often attacking the basket before a near capacity crowd.
Freitas-Gonsalves, known as a long-distance bomber, threw a changeup at Waiakea and took his defender off the dribble and raced to the rim for layups. The lanky forward finished with just one 3-pointer.
Junior Owen Sandstrom had 21 points, getting fed in the post and quickly turning and shooting, while sophomore Lucas St. George, the other big, added 13 points on close-range, blue-collar work under the basket to lead the Division I Warriors (2-4).
Freitas-Gonsalves was hot from start to finish. He had 10 points in the first half. In the second half, he converted his first three shots, attacking the basket each time. He sank a layup, got fouled and made the free throw for a 39-32 lead with 4:10 remaining in the third quarter.
After it was over, he neatly summed up the gym’s looks.
“The gym is perfect. It’s unbelievable to win in our first game in the gym,” he said. “The bright lights didn’t help my shooting percentage, my team did. We played together and played solid defense. I knew Waiakea was going to play me beyond the 3-point line. I threw up some fakes and coach said to drive on them.”
Defensively, Freitas-Gonsalves was assigned to shadow Waiakea senior guard Rylan Kawazoe, also a senior 3-point sharpshooter. The Warriors went 1 of 9 from long distance, with Kawazoe hitting a 3 to open the fourth period, cutting the lead to 46-39.
“Defensively, we had him guard Waiakea’s best outside shooter,” Pahoa coach Marc Saito said. “Waiakea didn’t have a 3 in the first half. Devin attacked the basket and finished strong.
“The gym is bright. I asked if we could turn off half the lights, but I was told we couldn’t. It was a nice crowd tonight.”
Pahoa’s athleticism, essentially, put the game to bed in fourth quarter with a 9-2 run after Kawazoe’s three, bumping the lead to 55-41 with 3:33 remaining. During the scoring spree, Fisher twice charged the rim and got layups, and senior Khalil Luis got a steal and scored on a layup.
In the first half, both teams were hot under the gym’s bright lights, each shooting 50 percent (10 of 20). But Pahoa held a 32-26 halftime lead, after winning a free-throw shooting contest.
It seemed neither team could play defense without committing a foul. The Daggers hit 11 of 15 free throws; the Warriors went 8 of 11. Pahoa finished 19 of 24 and Waiakea 10 of 17 from the line.
Freitas-Gonsalves buried his only 3-pointer in the first half. Then he went on a roll to start the second half, while helping shackle Waiakea into 40 percent (18 of 45) shooting, ending Pahoa’s first game in its new gym on a beautiful note.
In the junior varsity game, it was Waiakea 28, Pahoa 27.
Waiakea 11 15 10 9 — 45
Pahoa 18 14 14 13 — 59
* Hilo 79, Ka’u 46: At Pahala, sophomore Jalen Carvalho scored 18 points and senior Kainoa Kawaha 12 to lead the Division I Vikings (3-2).
Senior Holden Galigo and junior Nathaniel Kaui each scored nine points to lead the D-II Trojans (1-5).
JV: Hilo 66, Ka’u 57. Hilo: Fa’a Fuiava, 16; Steven Hunter, 14; AJ Matsumoto, 14. Ka’u: Larry Al-Navarro, 20; Franklin Orcino, 14.
Hilo 20 15 16 28 — 79
Ka’u 16 11 11 8 — 46
* Kohala 61, Kealakehe 59, OT: At Kapaau, Kala’i Kapeliela hit 5 of 6 free throws in overtime to help the D-II Cowboys (4-0) remain unbeaten.
Makana Kualii scored 13 points to lead Kohala. Kapeliela, Chris Roxburgh and Weston Cazimero each added 12 points.
Nalu Marks scored 17 points, including five 3-pointers, to lead the D-I Waveriders (1-3). Deion Utrera had 13 points, Keni Souza 12 and Jacob Ontiveros 11 for the visitors.
JV: Kealakehe 50, Kohala 49.
Kealakehe 12 10 17 13 7 — 59
Kohala 18 11 13 10 9 — 61
