With his shooting hand bandaged and just one full week of basketball practice, Makoa Camanse-Stevens should have been a rusty soldier on the hardwood.
Instead, the standout quarterback showed that he’s ready to lead a Kamehameha block party this winter. The 6-foot-4 guard scored 18 points, draining four 3-pointers, and swatted five shots as Kamehameha pulled away for a 47-33 win over Leilehua in the opening round of the Jimmy Alegre Classic at Radford High.
"I felt like I wanted to come out and have a new role, be a leader out there for the younger guys," Camanse-Stevens said.
Julian Nakanishi’s squad used swarming halfcourt traps, resulting in 12 steals. Leilehua finished with 20 turnovers. It was the same busy defense as last year’s squad, but the offense is different without sharpshooter Dyrbe Enos, now at UH.
"Dyrbe was the best player in the state. It’s hard to replace him," Camanse-Stevens said.
They might make up for it with defense, using athletic bigs to run the floor. In all, the Warriors had seven blocks in their first game of nonconference play. Though they shot just 33 percent from long range (6-for-18), Camanse-Stevens hit back-to-back treys on feeds from Austin Gerard as Kamehameha opened a 27-18 lead in the third quarter.
"Whenever I call his name, he finds me. We have that connection, just like football, except in basketball he gets me the ball," Camanse-Stevens said of the wide receiver.
Torenzo Vereen led Leilehua with 10 points.
Pearl City 41, McKinley 39
Isaac Amorin swished two free throws with 11.2 seconds to lift the Chargers into the semifinals.
Daicorri Briscoe led the Chargers with 12 points. Brennan Waters paced McKinley with seven points.
Punahou 67, Roosevelt 37
Randon Oda scored 11 points to lead a balanced Buffanblu attack. Daniel Andrews added nine points, while Kanawai Noa and Micah Ma‘a added eight apiece.
Mick Colling and Henry Maumalanga led Roosevelt with seven points each.
Moanalua 40, Radford 26
Ola Brown scored 10 points and Justin Hudcovic added six as Na Menehune topped their neighboring rival.
Jamaree Jackson led the young Rams with five points. Radford was 5-for-11 at the foul line. Moanalua was 16-for-28.
