Baldwin’s bigs break through

Chayse Akaka scored 13 points and Jonovan-Taje Akaka tallied 12 points, eight rebounds and a block as Baldwin knocked out McKinley 43-40 on Wednesday night at McKinley Student Council Gymnasium.

Baldwin, the Maui Interscholastic League runner-up, advanced to the quarterfinal round of the OC 16/HHSAA Boys Basketball Division I State Championships. The Bears will play top-seeded ‘Iolani tonight at 7 in McKinley’s gym.

Baldwin’s biggest lead was 35-27 early in the fourth quarter, but 3-point shots by Kyle Moraga and Huthifa Abdel Jawad cut the lead to 35-33.

The Bears shot 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final 1:13 to maintain their lead, but after a five-second violation on an inbounds play, they gave the ball to McKinley with the game 43-40 and six seconds remaining.

The Tigers inbounded to Moraga, who looked for Abdel Jawad, but he was tightly covered. Moraga’s wing 3 attempt was long at the buzzer.

It was a satisfying win for Baldwin, overcoming all kinds of adversity. Samuel Balantac Jr., their “best player,” according to coach Wayne Gushiken, stayed back home.

“For many of us, it’s the first time at states. There’s TV cameras and we’re playing in the home gym of McKinley,” Jonovan-Taje Akaka said. “I was just hoping everybody would play smart.”

Abdel Jawad, a 6-foot senior guard, led the McKinley squad with 16 points. Jeremy Coloyan tallied nine points. Dan Villejo, another senior, finished with seven points and sophomore guard Moraga tallied eight.

The Tigers finished third in the OIA playoffs last week. However, the Tigers were missing a crucial contributor, 6-foot-5 wide body Mark Burke. The junior said he did not play because of academic issues.

“I can’t describe it,” Abdel Jawad said of the golden opportunity that slipped away. “We knew about Mark’s problem for a few days. He would’ve been a big presence.”

That left the paint open for Baldwin’s bigs, the Akakas. Chayse Akaka, a 6-1 sophomore, hustled for five rebounds. Taje, a 6-1 senior, often led the fast break for Baldwin. After opening the game with 0-for-8 shooting in the first quarter, the Bears followed Gushiken’s instructions.

“We were just so sluggish, especially our guards, so we tried to up the tempo,” Gushiken said. “(McKinley) almost put us to sleep. They did a good job.”

Down five, the Bears went on an 8-0 run to take a 10-7 lead. McKinley stayed close with 3-point shooting, getting treys from Villejo and Moraga, and the lead changed hands six times in the second quarter. With a quicker tempo, the Bears led at intermission 29-27.

“We didn’t get back in transition a lot,” Abdel Jawad said. “We beat ourselves.”

Baldwin got post buckets from Chayse and Taje Akaka, and after guard Braydon-Mitchell Kaiama scored a fast-break layup, the Bears led 35-27.

Now Baldwin has the toughest task in the tourney: toppling giant ‘Iolani.

“No problem, we’ll take ‘em,” Gushiken said with mock brashness. “We’ll try our best and if we don’t win, at least we tried our best.”

Kaiser 41, Kailua 35

Chance Kalaugher scored 18 points to spark the Cougars in a comeback win.

“We needed to change the tempo. The first half, we sat in a zone and we wanted to come out and push it a little bit,” Kaiser coach Branden Kawazoe said. “It’s a grind. We were never comfortable. We just wanted to win every possession.”

Kawazoe’s team will face his alma mater, Waiakea, in the quarterfinal round tonight.

Junior forward Christian Mejia led the Surfriders with 14 points and freshman guard Everett Torres-Kahapea added 11.