Somewhere upstairs, Pete Smith is smiling again.
Yes, the Kalaheo Mustangs might have something to do with that. Guard Josh Ko poured in 22 points as unranked Kalaheo upset No. 1 Kamehameha 48-45 Wednesday night in the opening round of the St. Francis Merv Lopes Classic.
A crowd of about 250 watched at Manoa Valley Recreation Center old gym.
Down by three points, Kamehameha’s Dyrbe Enos missed a 25-foot pull-up try from the top in the final seconds. After Kalaheo’s Jordyn Reindollar missed two free throws with 2 seconds to go, Makoa Camanse-Stevens’ 85-foot launch missed at the buzzer.
The loss was Kamehameha’s first against local competition since a 66-61 loss to AOP on Jan. 11, ending a streak of 19 wins in a row against Hawaii teams. Defending state champion Kamehameha is 8-2 in nonconference play this season, its only other loss coming against Orlando Christian.
The win lifted Kalaheo to 16-3 in nonconference play.
Wednesday’s other
St. Francis Merv Lopes scores
Boys
» Kamehameha II 55, Damien 50
» Kamehameha-Hawaii 49,
Mission Prep (Calif.) 48, OT
» Science Hill (Tenn.) 73, No. 8 Farrington 38
» Amador Valley (Calif.) 39, Leilehua 38
» Saint Louis 45, Kailua 31
» Kahuku 65, Brentwood (Canada) 34
» St. Francis 72, Chestermere (Canada) 47
Girls
» Humboldt 44, La Pietra 35
» Radford 69, Christian Academy 33
|
“It means a lot,” said Ko, a transfer from Punahou now in his second year at Kalaheo. “They’re ranked No. 1. A win like this is spectacular.”
It was only fitting that Kalaheo coach Alika Smith had his team run the flex offense nearly the entire way, the same methodical set he learned from his father, Pete, who died in 2006.
Pete Smith learned the nuances of the flex from Merv Lopes, first at Kailua, then at Kalaheo, where Alika was an All-State guard. Ko showed flashes of precision as the lead ballhandler (five assists, one turnover) and scorer, shooting 7-for-12 from the field.
Nainoa Frank, a 6-foot-4 junior, had 17 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.
“He’s the big man we were missing last year,” Ko said of Frank. “He’s able to block shots and rebound in crunch time.”
Shem Sukumaran (eight rebounds) and Reindollar were also key cogs in Kalaheo’s man defense. Still, down a starter (Derick Morgan) and shooting only 7-for-23 at the free-throw line, the Mustangs may not have seemed prime for a giant killing.
Reserve Silila Tucker, filling in for Morgan, did enough defensively to take away clean looks for Enos.
“We lost offense with Morgan, but we gained defense with Tucker,” Smith said. “He did a good job. He wanted Enos, and Enos still hit some tough shots.”
Kalaheo took a 38-27 lead on a foul shot by Ko early in the fourth quarter.
Enos, who shot 6-for-16 and scored 21 points, triggered an 8-0 run with a pull-up 3-pointer. Each time the Warriors got within three points, Kalaheo answered. Anthony Rowan’s layup on a feed from Ko pushed the lead to 44-37 with 2 minutes left, but Camanse-Stevens answered with a 3-pointer, and after he hit a foul shot, Kamehameha was within 44-41.
Ko hit two free throws for a five-point lead, but from there, Kalaheo didn’t hit another foul shot. Frank scored on a layup to stretch the lead to 48-42, but Taylor Taliulu’s 3-point shot cut the margin to three points with 38 seconds left.
That’s when Kalaheo’s foul-shooting woes resumed. Ko missed two shots, and after Enos missed on a tough drive, Frank missed two more free throws.
Kamehameha just couldn’t get one last trey to fall.
