Chance Kalaugher poured in 24 points and crashed the boards for 17 rebounds as No. 3 Kaiser stunned No. 1 ‘Iolani 53-46 on Tuesday night in the semifinals of the Punahou Invitational.
The Cougars had dropped a notch in the Star-Advertiser Top 10 on Tuesday morning after last week’s upset loss to the rising Owls of Mid-Pacific at the ‘Iolani Classic.
Kaiser made up for it on Tuesday by getting a physical performance on both ends against a team that had not lost to a Hawaii school yet.
“We got away from what we do best. We got back to our foundation, which is embracing the grind, not getting to high or too low. Taking the good with the bad,” Cougars coach Branden Kawazoe said.
It was a highly entertaining battle between two powerhouse programs that shot lights-out in the first half. Kalaugher, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound senior, didn’t have any dunks for a change. Instead, he went to work inside and out whether ‘Iolani’s 6-8 center, Hugh Hogland, was in the game or not. Hogland played limited minutes after tweaking an ankle for the second time in preseason last week.
“We want more balance from Chance,” Kawazoe said. “More inside.”
When Kalaugher had some breathing room from defenders, he was hot from the arc. He shot 4-for-6 from 3-point range, including an NBA-range trey from straight away over the outstretched arms of Hogland to give Kaiser a 42-39 lead late in the third quarter.
By then, the hot shooting of ‘Iolani had cooled against Kaiser’s man-to-man defense. The Raiders were 6-for-9 from the arc in the first half and 1-for-5 from deep after halftime.
Robby Mann led ‘Iolani with 13 points, including three treys. Hogland finished with just two points, but blocked three shots in roughly 10 minutes of action.
After Kalaugher’s long 3 gave Kaiser the lead — the last of five lead changes in the third quarter, Kaiser settled down and controlled the tempo. The Cougars went 0-for-4 from the field during a stretch in the final minutes, but still led 47-42 when ‘Iolani called time out with 1:40 left.
Michael Miske then sprinted away for a left-handed layup, and after Keoua Mahiko scooped up a loose ball and fed Kalaugher for a layup, the Cougars had a 51-42 lead with 1:16 left.
‘Iolani was down 10 points when Mann sank a 3-pointer to bring the Raiders within 53-46 with less than 35 seconds to go. They got no closer the rest of the way.
“The first half was uncharacteristically us, all offense and no defense,” ‘Iolani coach Dean Shimamoto said. “When our shots are falling like that, we have to play defense. We should have a 15-point lead, but we gave up too many easy ones.”
Hogland’s ankle was still hurting at tip-off, but the Raiders wouldn’t use that as an excuse.
“We lose a lot of games during the season. Sometimes they cause us to re-evaluate and fix things,” Shimamoto said. “If we can use it, that would be great.”
Mahiko had an off-shooting night, but was valuable against ‘Iolani’s constant on-ball pressure. He had two points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals.
Miske contributed nine points off the bench, while point guard Nic Tom added four points and six boards, including two big offensive caroms late in the game. Isaiah Akiona, a reserve guard, was also key with seven points off the bench, including two treys.
