Freshman Layden Kauka hit a 16-foot jumper with 5.4 seconds left as Kohala rallied past University 40-38 in the Division II final of the Heide & Cook/HHSAA Boys Basketball State Championships on Friday night at SimpliFi Arena.
“It feels amazing, winning a state championship in my first year,” Kauka said. “It’s crazy. We talked about it, 92 days ago was our first day of practice. Our ultimate goal was to be here and win the state championship. The players bought in, including the bench. Not even one second on the court, but they go crazy for their team.”
Like Kohala, ULS is young and loaded with talented players.
“Kohala is an exceptional team with great talent. This team almost beat Saint Louis (at the Kapaa Invitational). We expected them to be in the (D-II) state championship game. We had to take care of business,” University coach Ryan Tong said.
The title is the second for Kohala (18-2 overall), both under coach Kihei Kapeliela. The first title was three years ago.
“In 2020, that team played together their whole lives. They were built for the moment. I’ve got a young team right here. Our leaders are underclassmen,” Kapeliela said. “We knew that they could do it. It was a matter of whether they believe they could do it. Tough game. They never gave up and kept battling all the way to the end. University is tough, kind of like HPA. They’ve got a lot of freshmen and sophomores.”
Down 37-33, Kohala dug deep. Kauka, a 6-foot freshman, came up clutch with a step-back 3-point shot to bring the Cowboys within one point with 57.4 seconds left.
He missed two foul shots with 49.5 seconds left, but ULS’ Kena Quitan missed the front of a 1-and-1 with 46.9 seconds to go.
Kauka grabbed the rebound and went coast to coast for a layup, pushing Kohala ahead 38-37 with 39 seconds left. It was Kohala’s first lead since the second quarter.
University point guard Todd McKinney went to the foul line for a 1-and-1 with 20.8 seconds left. He made the first to tie the game but missed the second.
That set up Kauka’s pull-up shot from the left elbow on an isolation play. University called time out with 4.5 seconds left and got a 40-foot shot from Trey Ambrozich that was on line but bounced off the front of the rim at the buzzer.
Kauka finished with 13 points on 5-for-18 shooting from the field against a tall, physical ULS man-to-man defense, adding seven rebounds and two steals. His brother, junior guard Landon Kauka, finished with a game-high 19 points (7-for-12 from the field), hitting three treys.
Duke Mobley led the Junior Rainbows (23-7) with 14 points on 7-for-14 shooting from the field, adding eight rebounds. Ambrozich tallied 10 points and six boards, and Koa Laboy had nine points, 14 caroms and four assists.
The Cowboys forced ULS into 15 turnovers while committing just four. Kapeliela opted to keep the fullcourt press in his back pocket until the final quarter.
“We changed it up. A lot of people know that we have a good fullcourt press and practice for it, so we went fullcourt man,” he said. “I trust my guys over anybody. Isaac (Libron), Easton (Hoshida), even Layden. Bad offense, busts his butt on defense against their guards. That’s our game.”
The Jr. ’Bows trained hard through the offseason. That plan resumes in the. very near future.
“I’m extremely proud of our guys. This is a resilient group and they battled hard to get this far,” Tong said. “It was a work in progress. We have a lot of young guys and we had a little turbulence along the way, but I could see us get galvanized and get more confident as the season went along.”
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HEIDE & COOK/HHSAA BOYS BASKETBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
All-Tournament Teams
Division I
Miles Hornage, Campbell
Jordan Posiulai, Saint Louis
Rondell Blenman-Villareal, Campbell
Shancin Revuelto, Saint Louis
Justin Yap, Maryknoll
Most outstanding player: Pupualii Sepulona, Saint Louis
Division II
Landon Kauka, Kohala
Trey Ambrozich, University
Koa Laboy, University
Duke Mobley, University
Joshua Rego, Kauai
Most outstanding player: Layden Kauka, Kohala
