Step onto Peter Smith Court and the reminders of Kalaheo’s boys basketball legacy are inescapable.
Blue and orange banners hanging on the walls commemorate the program’s 19 OIA championships and six state titles and the current Mustangs continued their quest to add to the decor with a dramatic 49-46 OIA Division I playoff win over Kaiser on Friday.
By advancing out of the quarterfinal round, the Mustangs also clinched a spot in the upcoming state tournament.
“It is a big relief,” said Kalaheo coach Rob Pardini, who led the Mustangs to the 2016 OIA title. “You look around the gym, it’s a pretty successful program, so we’re expected in some regard to be in the state tournament every year.”
Kalaheo, the OIA East’s second seed, will face OIA West top seed Kapolei in the semifinals on Monday at McKinley and earned one of the league’s six berths in the Snapple/HHSAA Boys Basketball Championships.
“It’s nice, but we still haven’t met our goals,” Kalaheo senior Andrew Kearney said of the state berth after a 22-point performance capped by the go-ahead bucket with 23.1 seconds left. “We want to win the OIA championship and we’re going to stay one goal at a time. It’s great to be in states, but we have to focus on Monday.”
Kaiser, the OIA East’s sixth seed, drops into the fifth-place bracket, but has another chance to earn a state tournament berth in Monday’s game against Kailua. The Cougars advanced out of the first round with a 40-35 upset of OIA West third seed Campbell on Thursday and nearly shot their way into states with nine 3-pointers out of 16 made field goals.
Guard Hunter Dias hit six 3-pointers off the bench in a 21-point night and Cameron Ma added three from long range.
“Back to back nights against two good teams and they came out and competed, put ourselves in a good position to win but didn’t make enough plays down the stretch,” Kaiser coach Branden Kawazoe said. “Didn’t stop the ball in transition and just didn’t do the little things well down the stretch. But proud of the guys and the way they battled.”
To earn a spot in the semifinals, Kalaheo had to rally from an eight-point deficit in the third quarter against a hot-shooting Cougars team.
The Mustangs caught the Cougars midway through the fourth and led 46-43 in the final minute, only to have Kaiser tie it on Dias’ final 3 with 31 seconds left.
Kearney answered immediately, charging down the lane for the decisive score while drawing a foul with 23.1 seconds left.
“I was just looking for an open opportunity,” said Kearney, a 6-foot-4 senior. “I didn’t think too much about it. It was just we need a score right here, it’s a big play, look for the open shot. If not, I was going to kick it, (but) they gave me an open lane and (I) just so happened to finish.”
Kaiser had a look to reclaim the lead, but Ryan Pardini, the coach’s son, blocked Dias’ shot at the top of the key. Lawrence DeCosta was fouled after securing the rebound and made one of two from the free-throw line with 7.7 seconds left. Kaiser’s Jaymin Khansmith’s corner 3-pointer was on-line but bounced off the front of the rim at the buzzer.
