Kailua handles Waianae for its first title in 31 years

A year ago, Kailua was struggling and Windward hoops native Wally Marciel was happily guiding Academy of the Pacific to another state tournament.

With time comes change, and now Kailua has claimed its first OIA championship since 1982.

Kirk Ronolo had 16 points and six rebounds, and Mason Youart added 12 as the Surfriders ran away from Waianae 48-33 in the White Conference title game on Saturday night at McKinley Student Council Gymnasium.

"It feels good, man. These kids worked hard for the last three-and-a-half months and bought into a whole new system," said Marciel, who arrived at Kailua (14-8) after AOP disbanded its varsity boys basketball program. "We’re very proud of them. This is good for the community and good for the school."

The Surfriders used a solid man-to-man defense and mixed in a half-court zone trap to force Waianae into 26 turnovers. That was double the number of field goals made by the Seariders, who shot 13-for-34 from the field.

Offensively, Kailua struggled in the early going against Waianae’s stingy 2-3 matchup zone.

"We were worried about that defense, but we got our high post up," Marciel said of Kailua’s 13-3 run in the second quarter.

That turned a 6-all game into a 19-9 halftime lead. Waianae extended its zone to half court after that, but Kailua’s tall ballhandlers kept their composure.

"We wanted to put Mason (Youart) on top and he was able to cover the guards," Marciel said.

Senior guard Kekoa Ford added eight points and stabilized Kailua’s backcourt when Waianae went with full-court, on-ball pressure. The Surfriders shot 61 percent from the field (17-for-28) and were clutch from the foul line in the fourth quarter, shooting 11-for-16.

Waianae (10-8) won the battle on the boards 20-17 and hustled for nine offensive caroms, but fell behind 27-10 midway through the third quarter. Kailua then held the ball near midcourt to pull Waianae’s quick guards out of the key.

The Seariders got 11 fourth-quarter points from Jamal Lopez, including a trey and a 15-footer from the wing, to get within 40-31 with less than 2 minutes left. Kailua put the game away with the next eight points, including a three-point play by Ford.

Lopez finished with 15 points to lead Waianae.

"We knew Kailua would be physical. It depended on whether the refs would call it tight," Seariders coach John Simbahon said. "It’s two country schools, so we knew it would be physical. We just didn’t break that half-court trap enough."

Kailua and Waianae had already sealed berths in next week’s Division II state tournament.

"It means a lot to us to win tonight, but we want to carry the momentum into next week," Ronolo said. "We’re going to win it. That’s the only thing I can say."