Mid-Pacific’s Brilie Kovaloff scores 21 to help ILH ward off gritty OIA

This Owl was far from quiet.

Brilie Kovaloff had 21 points, eight rebounds and three assists to help the ILH squad rally past the OIA 95-90 on Saturday afternoon in the Geremy Robinson Senior Classic at Moanalua’s gym.

The Mid-Pacific guard scored 12 points in the second half of a see-saw battle. Her teammates were as efficient. Kamehameha’s Kalina Obrey finished with 15 of her 20 points after halftime. Obrey, a San Jose State signee, also grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.

‘Iolani guard Taylor Wu, a Cal Baptist signee, added 16 points, five assists and three steals with no turnovers. Keila Tsutsui of Hanalani chipped in 10 points. The game format was two 20-minute halves, all on regular stop-clock action.

“Oh my gosh, it was long. I’m out of shape,” Kovaloff said. “It’s a fun experience, all laughs no matter what happens.”

ILH coach Dean Young and assistant Cy Hirota installed their five-out and transition offenses at practice the day before. It was something for some of the 10 players on the roster, but they took to it fairly well.

“I really like the ‘Iolani coaches. It took some getting used to,” Kovaloff added.

The ILH squad opened a 59-47 lead on a feed from Dallas Martinez (Sacred Hearts) to Kamehameha’s Kaylee-Brooke Manuel (10 points, seven rebounds) with 15:35 left.

The OIA was resilient. Coach Chi Mok’s team tied it at 73 on a Kalena Gibson (Mililani) layup with 8:20 remaining. The run continued as Kimberlee Ung (Campbell) drove for a three-point play, and after Radford’s Emily Eter splashed a 3, the OIA had an 83-75 lead with 6:30 to go.

Briarra Nakihei (Castle) sparked the run with eight of her team-high 14 points. However, that 36-16 run wasn’t enough.

“We heard a lot of people saying, ‘You should smash the OIA team,’ ” Wu said. “They were tough, and we knew we had to play some defense. Coach talked about boxing out.”

The ILH went ahead 87-85 on a layup by Obrey on a Wu assist with 2:25 left. Wu drove for a layup, and after she fed Martinez for a reverse layup, the lead was 91-85 with 1:35 to go. Kovaloff added a layup on a Wu feed to open the lead to eight points.

A 3 by SadieAnn Luiz cut the lead to five in the final 20 seconds cut the margin to five points, but the OIA got no closer.

Gibson added 13 points, and Kamalu Kamakawiwo‘ole (Kalani), Kaylen Kamelamela (Leilehua) and Luiz tallied 12 each.

Gibson had quite a comeback this season after suffering an ACL injury a year ago.

“It’s been really hard. I had to do a lot of rehab. There were times I didn’t want to play anymore,” she said. “But once the season started, my teammates had my back. I actually owe it all to them.”

Gibson will play at Multnomah College in Portland, Ore., next season.

St. Francis had two players in the game: Zayla Sismar-Evangelista and Kawena Kalani (eight points). Sismar-Evangelista won the 3-point contest, edging Kaimuki’s Kaelyn Espinda. They are, at this point, the final Saints to play in a high school game as the school closes its doors in a few months.

“I was actually making my shots. In the game, I went 0-fer,” she said. “Winning made me feel good. It felt good to show how much I’ve worked and knowing the coaches believed in me. We’re fighters. We didn’t stay down.”

‘Iolani’s Kawai Kahalehoe won the 1-on-1 competition, edging Moanalua’s Raven Rosa-Lasco in the final. Other competitors were Kamakawiwo‘ole and Luiz.

“Those are all my best friends,” Kahalehoe said.