Young guns help Hilo thwart late Moanalua rally

The young Hilo Vikings are proving that there’s no time like the present.

Sophomore Jalen Carvalho stroked home a go-ahead 3-pointer with 12 seconds left as Hilo stunned Moanalua 50-45 Wednesday night in the Division I opening round of the Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Boys Basketball State Championships.

A crowd of about 400 watched at McKinley Student Council Gymnasium as Hilo blew an 18-point lead, then went to Carvalho, who hadn’t hit a 3-point shot since the opening quarter.

"(Coach Jason Mandaquit) asked for one last shot, but I was wide open, take it," said Carvalho, who transferred from Kamehameha-Hawaii after his freshman year.

Guard Kamuela Patnaude drove under the basket and found Carvalho at his favorite spot, the left wing, for the open look. After Carvalho’s shot was all net, Kainoa Kawaha-Figueroa stole the ball at midcourt and sealed the win with a layup just 2 seconds before the final buzzer.

"Jalen is our knock-down shooter," Mandaquit said. "That’s what got us here, and we’re going to live and die by it. Our team always battles back and that’s a sign of maturity."

Hilo (20-9), a team loaded with underclassmen, advanced to the quarterfinals and will play top-seeded Punahou.

Coach Greg Tacon’s Na Menehune squad, which trailed by 18 in the third quarter, was led by Kahanu Puulei-Auld’s 18 points. Moanalua (22-12) is the third-place team from the OIA.

Carvalho was smoking hot in the first quarter, hitting all three of his 3-point tries on kick-outs from teammates against Moanalua’s tight man defense. The Vikings closed the first half with a 10-0 run and led 30-16 at halftime.

After a tip-in by Drew Kell — another sophomore — the Vikings had a 34-16 lead early in the third quarter. Moanalua extended its on-ball pressure to fullcourt and made a valiant effort led by Puulei-Auld. He started the run with a 3-pointer, and after his steal led to a breakaway layup, Moanalua was within 38-32 entering the final quarter.

Na Menehune were down by three when Puulei-Auld blocked a shot and connected on a 22-foot trey to tie the game at 43 with 2:27 remaining.

Jodd Carter (10 points) scored on a backdoor pass from Carvalho with 1:48 left as Hilo regained the lead, but Puulei-Auld tied it at 45-all on a tough scoop shot on the baseline with 44 seconds left. That set up the clutch 3 by Carvalho.

Na Menehune played without freshman Eliet Donley (leg contusion), but outrebounded Hilo 26-24.

"Our speed makes up for our lack of height," Mandaquit said. "We’re not a great offensive halfcourt team, but our defense keeps us in games."

Mandaquit was the point guard when Hilo last won the state championship in 2000.

"We’ll be way undersized against Punahou," Mandaquit said. "We’ll put together our game plan and see what happens tomorrow."

Leilehua 61, Kapolei 43

One squad stepped on the gas and the other was simply out of it.

Jeremiah Andrade’s 14 points led a balanced Mules offense, and Russell Siavii ripped down 14 rebounds in a surprisingly easy opening-round win.

"We just wanted to play pressure man defense, something we didn’t have against Moanalua," coach Pat Wetzel said, referring to an OIA playoff loss. "Kapolei’s very disciplined. We wanted to get them in foul trouble. We wanted to force the action and not play timid, hopefully wear them down with our depth. It’s hard, Kapolei had three tough games with Kahuku (last week). We practiced for seven straight days."

Leilehua (13-11), the fourth-place team out of the OIA, will meet Baldwin (24-3) in today’s quarterfinal round. Troy Ross had 11 points and Cody Halvorson added 10 for Leilehua, which kept tight on-ball pressure on the Hurricanes from end to end.

Christopher Dillard had 19 points and eight boards for Kapolei (19-5), which looked exhausted, perhaps feeling the effects of a long run in the playoffs using primarily seven players. The Hurricanes fell behind 26-10 in the first half, scoring just one point in a stretch of almost 9 minutes. They closed the gap to 10 by halftime, but Leilehua rocketed out of the break with a 14-7 run.

For the game, the ‘Canes shot 0-for-10 from beyond the arc and 14-for-51 (27 percent) overall.

The Mules now have to contend with Baldwin.

"Coach Wayne Gushiken does an excellent job with his team," Wetzel said. "His guys know how to come off curls and use screens. They’re very sound defensively, pressure men. They’ve got two guys inside, 42 (Pasoni Tasini) and 41 (Bradley Bowlin), who are monsters, and one of the best players in the state with Gabriel Ross, and their freshman guard (Kody Takushi), he’s tough as heck."