Sacred Hearts heads to state basketball tournament

Nahenahe Alo had 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists as Sacred Hearts took command in the fourth quarter for a 62-38 win over Mid-Pacific at Damien’s gym, earning a state-tournament berth.

The Lancers also got 12 points and 10 rebounds from Rayanna Baniaga, using a balanced attack to win the ILH Division II tournament. Sacred Hearts (20-6 overall) will begin play in the Heide & Cook/HHSAA D-II State Championships in Hilo on Wednesday.

“It’s a wonderful feeling for these ladies. We beat a really good team tonight, a team that gave us all we could handle last week,” Sacred Hearts coach Richard Kasuya said. “We’re so proud of them for bouncing back the way they did.”

Alo played nearly the entire game, sweeping the glass for boards, handling the point at times, and playing defense with a non-stop motor.

“I’m so excited because we just played (Mid-Pacific) and we lost. We came out with a higher intensity because we really wanted to go to Hilo. We knew they were going to fight hard, too, to go to states,” Alo said.

KaylsaMarie Ng tallied nine points, eight rebounds and three assists, and Sydney Europa added seven points for the Lancers.

Senior Dorthea Yoakum had 12 points and eight boards to lead Mid-Pacific (12-12 overall). Sophomore Kristie Kagawa connected on three 3-pointers, and junior Maile Bellevou had 10 points, four rebounds and three steals.

“I feel like we gave it all we had, but they were hitting shots and we weren’t,” Yoakum said.

The teams split their regular-season series. The Owls stunned the Lancers 39-29 on Jan. 21. That seemed to light a spark under the Lancers, who shot 2-for-23 from the arc in the previous game with MPI.

“We learned that this year. If we didn’t bring our best, we ran into problems,” Kasuya said. “Some teams we play are larger than us. We thought we match up pretty well with Mid-Pac size-wise.”

Sacred Hearts caught fire from the arc early on. Ng banked in a 3, followed by 3-pointers by Europa and Kennedy Uemura. After Europa drove for a layup, the Lancers had a 15-3 lead late in the first quarter.

The lead continued to grow in the second quarter. Alo fed Baniaga for one of her six point-blank layups to give SHA a 22-8 lead.

Yoakum, a 5-foot-5 post/wing, had eight points and seven rebounds as the Owls got within 27-16 by halftime.

Breaking MPI’s fullcourt pressure, the Lancers got three more layups from Baniaga to extend the lead to 39-21 midway through the third stanza.

Mid-Pacific went on a 13-5 run, pulling within 44-34 on Kagawa’s third trey early in the fourth quarter. From there, the Lancers regained momentum. Alo continued to attack the paint and had nine points in the final quarter, shooting 7-for-8 from the free-throw line.

For the game, SHA shot 11-for-18 from the foul line (61 percent), while MPI was 3-for-11 (27 percent). The Owls shot 7-for-22 from the arc (32 percent) and the Lancers wee 6-for-16 (38 percent).

Hawaii Baptist, Hanalani and Sacred Hearts will represent the ILH in Hilo.

“It sucks because I really liked our team this season. It sucks that we couldn’t extend and go to states and spend more time together,” Bellevou said. “I’m going to miss them next year.”

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OIA

Boys Division I tournament

Quarterfinals

Kailua 64, Kalaheo 52

Leading Scorers—Kalh: Jaron Gilmore 20, CJ Bostic 17. Kail: Jonny Philbrick 24, Maddox Pung 11, Nai Iwaki 10.

Campbell 65, Moanalua 54

Leading Scorers—Moa: Skylar Miyasato 23, Cyrus Faradineh 21. Camp: Rondell Blenman-Villarreal 15.

Leilehua 53, Kahuku 49

Leading Scorers—Leil: Twain Wilson 22. Kah: Kache Kaio 14, Kahler Vendiola 11.

Mililani 55, Roosevelt 46

Boys Division II tournament

Semifinals

Kalani 71, Waialua 54

Leading Scorers—Wail: James Zara 25. Kaln: Joshua Schutter 19, Joaquin Manaligod 12.

Also:

Farrington 65, Aiea 46

ILH

Varsity Boys

Punahou 64, Kamehameha 52

Leading Scorers—KS: Kaina Watson 21, Christian Togiai 10, Zion Donnell 10. Pun: Ayndra Uperesa-Thomas 16, Dillon Kellner 14.

‘Iolani 51, Mid-Pacific 43

Leading Scorers—MPI: Jarek Lee 11, Logan Mason 11. Iol: Kaimana Lau Kong 19, Akila Indalecio 17, Aidan Wong 12.

Punahou II 54, ‘Iolani II 47

Leading Scorers—Iol: Isaac Aoki 9, Andrew Kai 9. Pun: Colson Falk 13, Nestor Herana 11.