Amari Westmoreland-Vendiola had 23 points and 10 rebounds as No. 7 Kahuku pulled away in the final quarter for a 52-37 win over McKinley on Friday night.
Kahuku’s 14-2 run to start the fourth quarter turned a four-point lead into a comfortable 44-32 edge.
Leonard Ah You hustled for 12 points, eight boards and two blocks as Kahuku improved to 3-0 in OIA East play. Two wins this week were on the road; on Wednesday, Kahuku outlasted Kalani 53-42.
“I feel like it makes us stronger to get ready for the playoff games, especially for the playoff games, because it’s going to be harder,” Westmoreland-Vendiola said. “I feel like we’ll come through adversity.”
Ian Venzon paced McKinley (0-3) with 18 points. Aaron Rutledge added nine points.
Despite a struggle against Kahuku’s ballhawking man-to-man defense, the Tigers had a well-designed game plan. Eighteen turnovers, however, made the challenge tougher.
“I thought we took over the pace of the game. Slowed it down a little bit, made them play defense, gave them less possessions,” McKinley coach Duane Omori said. “Unfortunately, we turned over the ball on those possessions and they kind of got the momentum back. They got easy baskets. Kahuku’s a tough team. They run, they get easy baskets and it demoralizes us when we have to take a minute to get a basket on one possession.”
The Tigers were ready for a physical battle in the paint. Down 10 at halftime, they chipped away and got within 34-30 entering the fourth quarter.
Westmoreland-Vendiola went to work in the paint, scoring 10 points in the final quarter. He scored on a layup.
Daniel Kaio stole the ball and fed Westmoreland-Vendiola, who dished to Ben Holakeituai for an easy basket to open Kahuku’s lead to 40-30. A jumper in the paint by Ah You extended the lead to 42-30 with four minutes remaining. The Tigers never recovered.
“Coming to McKinley, these guys are just so organized and take their time. We want to do the opposite, so it was good to go against a team like that,” Kahuku coach Brandyn Akana said. “They play that tough zone defense, so that was good for our guys to see that.”
Kahuku didn’t shoot a free throw in the first half, but ravaged McKinley on the offensive glass. The visitors led 14-11 after one quarter as Ah You scored three buckets. Westmoreland-Vendiola had just two points in the opening quarter, then scored nine in the second, including a 3-point bomb, as Kahuku opened the lead to 28-17. The visitors led 30-20 at intermission, helped by 12 Tigers turnovers.
Kahuku was 1-for-6 at the free-throw line in the third stanza, giving McKinley opportunity. Venzon sliced between two defenders for a bank shot on the block to bring the Tigers within 34-30 late in the third.
Kahuku buckled down defensively in the final eight minutes, limiting McKinley to 2-for-7 shooting from the field with six giveaways.
After shooting 3-for-8 at the foul line in the fourth quarter, Kahuku finished 4-for-14 on the night.
Kahuku will host Castle on Tuesday.
McKinley will travel to Farrington on Tuesday. The Tigers’ first two losses were nail-biters to Roosevelt (28-25) and Kalaheo (43-41).
