Relying on the instincts developed on the playground, Lanaki Apele pulled off a bit of mid-air improvisation that helped Kamehameha-Hawaii survive an overtime battle with Academy of the Pacific on Thursday.
With the Warriors trailing AOP by a point in overtime, Apele drove under the basket and flipped in a reverse layup for the go-ahead basket and Kamehameha-Hawaii held on late to survive a 39-37 duel with the Dolphins and advance to the Division I semifinals of the HHSAA/Hawaiian Airlines Boys Basketball Championships.
“When I was little I used to do all kinds of shots like that,” said Apele, who scored five of KS-Hawaii’s six points in overtime and led the Warriors with nine points. “I’m so glad that went in because I was honestly trying to draw the foul. I jumped in the air, I saw one guy behind me and one guy in front of me. I just held it and tried to spin it off the backboard.
“I just used to do a lot of crazy shots and I guess it paid off.”
The Warriors will play in today’s 7 p.m. semifinal at Blaisdell Arena, and KS-Hawaii coach Dominic Pacheco said the team’s previous trips to Oahu for the ‘Iolani Classic and St. Francis/Merv Lopes Classic proved pivotal in its state tournament opener.
“When we came down here, that’s what preseason was about for us, preparing us for this situation,” Pacheco said.
AOP’s Wilson MacLeod hit three 3-pointers in his game-high 11 points. But the Dolphins saw a potential game-winner at the end of regulation bounce off the rim, and they struggled to get a clean look at the end of overtime.
“We had our chances, that’s for sure,” AOP head coach Wally Marciel said.
Just getting to the gym was a challenge for AOP. The team bus was caught in traffic, so the Dolphins split up into three cars for the drive to Radford’s Jim Alegre Gymnasium. They arrived at about 4:50 p.m., 10 minutes before the scheduled start, and were given 17 minutes to warm up.
Once the game started, the Dolphins slowed the tempo against the Warriors and went into halftime with a 21-20 lead.
“We were stuck, so the kids really didn’t have a good chalk talk before the game,” Marciel said. “To be up by one at halftime and have the opportunity at the end, I’m proud of my guys.”
The Dolphins were without senior Artur Mkrtychyan, who suffered a broken wrist against Pearl City on Wednesday and had surgery on Thursday. AOP’s depth was further depleted when Drew Viena went to the bench with foul trouble. Viena didn’t score, but he ran the point and had 10 rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot before fouling out with 5:04 left in the fourth quarter.
“Drew is our leader, he’s our captain — that was a big loss,” Marciel said.
KS-Hawaii held a 33-30 lead with 3:33 left in regulation before AOP’s Mattia Raebel tied it with a
3-pointer from the right wing 20 seconds later. Neither team scored for the remainder of regulation, as two AOP shots stayed out of the net in the final seconds.
Down by two in overtime, AOP’s Arkadiy Mkrtychyan was fouled on a rebound with 11.4 seconds left. He made the first free throw, and, after a KS-Hawaii timeout, missed the second.
KS-Hawaii’s Kekoa Turner grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Turner made one of two free throws and the Warriors forced AOP’s Kamana Keohohou into a tough 3-point attempt that went out of bounds with 0.6 seconds left.
¯¯¯¯¯
At Radford
| AOP (9-5) |
8 |
13 |
4 |
8 |
4 |
– |
37 |
| KS-Hawaii (14-1) |
6 |
14 |
9 |
4 |
6 |
– |
39 |
ACADEMY OF THE PACIFIC—Shai Brown 2, Shanon Akiona 0, Mattia Raebel 4, Kamana Keohohou 2, Arkadiy Mkrtychyan 8, Drew Viena 0, David Daniel 9, Wilson Macleod 11, Marshall Gourley 0, Bret-Maverick Kanoa 1. Totals 10 13-21 37
KAMEHAMEHA-HAWAII—Keoni Wong 0, Shaun Kagawa 8, Kekoa Turner 8, Lanaki Apele 9, Jacob Kackley 6, Blaine-Allen Manliguis 0, Kaeo Alapai 8. Totals: 12 13-21 39.
3-point goals—Academy of the Pacific 4 (Macleod 3, Raebel), Kamehameha-Hawaii 2 (Kagawa, Turner).
Kahuku 46, King Kekaulike 35
The Red Raiders managed to grind out a win over Na Alii to set up a third meeting with Kamehameha-Hawaii this season.
Kahuku and Kamehameha-Hawaii played twice in preseason tournaments and meet again today for a berth in the state title game.
Kahuku won the first meeting 57-53 in the ‘Iolani Classic on Dec. 19 and Kamehameha-Hawaii claimed the rematch 50-42 in the St. Francis Merv Lopes Classic on Dec. 29.
“They’re a good team and both our teams are good friends with each other,” Kahuku head coach Darren Johnson said. “It’s going to be another good game.”
Kahuku forward Mekeli Fiso led all scorers with 13 points, and center Sam Ching added 10. Jacob Havron led King Kekaulike with 12 points.
At Radford
| King Kekaulike (9-5) |
9 |
4 |
8 |
14 |
– |
35 |
| Kahuku (17-1) |
11 |
5 |
12 |
18 |
– |
46 |
KING KEKAULIKE—Jansen Agapay 9, Alroy Ferreira 2, Chase Iwata Bartelme 7, Keita Naito 0, Jordan Mauliola 2, Jacob Havron 11, Gabe Gunter 4. Totals 10 13-28 35.
KAHUKU—Evan Ramirez 6, Kawe Johnson 9, Mason Kualii-Moe 8, Lasselle Thompson 0, Danny Aki Jr. 0, Bronson Beatty 0, Mikeli Fiso 13, Sam Ching 10. Totals 14 16-24 46.
3-point goals—King Kekaulike 2 (Agapay, Havron), Kahuku 2 (Kualii-Moe, Johnson).
CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS
Kamehameha 56, Pearl City 49
Dyrbe Enos scored 15 points as the Warriors defeated the Chargers in a consolation semifinal.
At Radford
| Pearl City (10-7) |
13 |
13 |
14 |
9 |
— |
49 |
| Kamehameha (11-6) |
16 |
6 |
21 |
13 |
— |
56 |
PEARL CITY—Kailon Sabate 10, Ryan Arguelles 2, Daircorri Briscoe 0, Kainoa Perez 14, Reymart Rosario 0, Tysen Hilcox 4, Lawrence Glisson 2, Marc Suniga 12, Bryson Takaesu 0, Nicholas Tabisola 0, Isaac Amorin 5. Totals 19-9-10 49.
KAMEHAMEHA—Noa Kinimaka 3, JT Campbell 7, Mana‘o Salvani 2, Gavin LaGrange 0, Taylor Taliulu 7, Dyrbe Enos 15, Makoa Camanse-Stevens 3, Austin Gerard 4, Kayson Smith-Bejgrowicz 0, Makana Harrison 0, Kamal Olosofoyeku 0, Noah Borden 4, Thor Latu 7, Zerin Parker 4. Totals 19 13-26 56.
3-point goals—Pearl city 2 (Suniga, Amorin). Kamehameha 5 (Enos 2, Camanse-Stevens, Kinimaka, Taliulu).
Kapolei 83, Moanalua 51
The Hurricanes rolled to a 31-point third quarter in their win over Na Menehune. Kaeo Soares led Kapolei with 16 points.
At McKinley
| Moanalua (11-7) |
7 |
21 |
10 |
13 |
— |
51 |
| Kapolei (14-3) |
21 |
15 |
31 |
16 |
— |
83 |
MOANALUA—Kreig Kepa 5, Daib Starks 5, Kahanu Puulei-Auld 13, Alex Hutson 1, Tahi Caldwell 0, Dillon Turk 3, Shane Ratledge 0, Chris Hammond 5, Justin Hudcovic 7, Josh Kang 2, Kyrie McRaven 4, Jon Michael Sharsh 0, Anthony Bowen 4, Ryen Okimoto 0, Brent Yee 0, Jonah Ramelb 0, Cory Crockett 2. Totals 8 9-15 51.
KAPOLEI—Dorian Anotonio-Martos 6, Curtis Tavares 13, Elia McKeague 7, Joshua Wills 13, Joshua Farias 2, Kulakomohana Seno 0, Kaeo Soares 16, Christopher Dillard 12, Michael Bangel 0, Zachary Reeves 4, Micah Kapoi 10. Totals 10 16-28 83.
3-point goals—Moanalua 6 (Puulei-Auld 3, Kepa, Starks, Hammond). Kapolei 7 (Tavares 3, McKeague 2, Soares, Dillard).
