The intensity, Kahuku coach Brandyn Akana said, wasn’t there in the first half.
Amari Westmoreland-Vendiola and his teammates made sure it returned. The 6-foot-3 senior amassed 32 points and 17 rebounds — 14 on the offensive glass — as No. 5 Kahuku broke open a close game for a 59-45 win over Moanalua on Tuesday night.
Kahuku remained unbeaten with a 10-0 record in OIA East play. A showdown with Kailua, also 10-0 in league play, will determine the East’s top seed in the playoffs. The game will be at Kahuku on Thursday.
“The game is already sold out,” Westmoreland-Vendiola said.
Brock Cravens Fonoimoana added eight points, sparking the visitors with defensive takeaways for Kahuku transition points. Aiken Naihe chipped in seven points.
“I feel OK. It’s a win. I didn’t feel we played well. We might have taken them lightly. The intensity was gone,” Akana said. “We let them get in the paint, get offensive rebounds. Things we normally don’t allow.”
Kahuku may have had another reason for the slow start: a late-arriving bus. Players said the bus came one hour late.
“We were about to drive ourselves,” junior forward Leonard Ah You said.
Ah You added six points and four rebounds.
Skylar Miyasato led Na Menehune with 13 points and Michael Barcelona added nine. Moanalua, 4-6 in OIA East play, rallied for a 21-20 lead early in the second quarter on a steal and layup by Miyasato. The home team opened the lead to 23-20 on a drive to the bucket by Miyasato.
Kahuku led at the half, 25-24.
After their pep talk outside the gym, Big Red came roaring back in the third quarter. Westmoreland-Vendiola was a one-man wrecking crew on the offensive boards with eight points and six caroms in the third.
Kahuku opened a 12-point lead, but Moanalua’s X’zavier King and Travis Morton connected from 3-point range to cut the lead in half. After Colby Casinas hustled for a follow shot, the lead was down to 36-32.
Westmoreland-Vendiola then hustled for consecutive putbacks and Kahuku was never threatened again.
No. 4 Maryknoll 50, No. 1 Saint Louis 45
At the Crusaders’ gym, the visiting Spartans did their part to clutter the already congested ILH standings with a clutch victory.
Meanwhile, Kamehameha led ‘Iolani by seven in the final two minutes but lost 48-44. All of the madness in the ILH gauntlet means Saint Louis is now 8-2 in league play, with Maryknoll, Punahou and ‘Iolani at 7-3.
“We had a good game plan, to make sure (Aiva) Arquette wasn’t scoring under basket,” Maryknoll coach Kelly Grant said. “I think he had nine at halftime and only two after that. We had a bigger lineup. Fabian Camacho is only 6 feet, but he is super strong.”
Kamehameha dropped to 5-6 in league play.
