Kalani captures OIA D-II basketball title

Kapaa Nishimura scored 16 points and sophomore Brandon Chung tallied 11 of his 13 in the second half as Kalani outlasted Roosevelt 61-52 to capture the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II boys basketball championship on Wednesday night.

Kalani, which was 8-2 in the OIA East despite its D-II designation, is 13-4 overall, including nonconference games.

The Falcons executed their spread sets with tremendous discipline once again en route to their second consecutive crown.

“Our seniors did a great job,” interim head coach Everett Frye said. “We’ve been on them all season.”

Both teams had already qualified for the upcoming state tournament.

“Tomorrow’s a new day. We’ve got to get ready for next Wednesday,” Frye added.

The key contributor down the stretch was Chung, a 6-foot-2 center with smooth footwork on the block. A resident of Maui, he attends the Hawaii School for the Deaf and Blind and showed up for JV tryouts a year ago. This season, he moved up to varsity and got to play on live TV for his family and friends back home.

“I wasn’t nervous. It was like playing a regular game,” he said.

A boisterous crowd of roughly 1,000 at McKinley Student Council Gymnasium saw Kalani take command from the start, using a 1-2-2 press to confuse the Rough Riders.

With Max Pepe, Isaiah Lee and Ryan Higashionna directing their deliberate offense, Falcons pounced for four first-quarter steals for a 16-10 lead. Their press was a major weapon.

“We used it against the D-I teams (in the OIA East), but we held it back against the D-II teams,” Frye noted.

Kalani used an 8-0 run to start the third quarter to open up a 40-24 lead. The Rough Riders got within 50-41 on a Micah Visoria’s drive with 2:31 to play, but couldn’t get any closer.

Coach Steve Hathaway was not happy about his team’s 13 turnovers in the first three quarters. Some came with very little on-ball pressure, simply long passes deflected in the middle of the floor.

“We didn’t do much well tonight. Congratulations to Kalani, but our turnovers didn’t have to do with their pressure. We just threw the ball all over the place,” he said. “We’re back to 0-0 now.”

Juan Alvarez led Roosevelt (14-8 overall) with 13 points and Visoria added 11.