Kaiser's Chance Kalaugher puts up a shot in the paint against McKinley. Peter Caldwell | SL

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011715_1303_McKinley_045.JPG - Peter Caldwell | SL

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Chance Kalaugher accounted for half his team's scoring and Kaiser beat host McKinley, 52-41, in Oahu Interscholastic Association Eastern Division boys' basketball Saturday night at the Student Council Gymnasium.

The Division II Cougars improved to 3-2, while the Division I Tigers dropped to 2-3.

"We knew we had to win this one," Kalaugher said. "We just lost to Moanalua and lost to Kalani at the beginning, so we knew this was big."

Kalaugher, a 6-foot-5 junior forward, tied a personal season-high with 26 points, 18 coming in the second half. He had 10 rebounds, scoring twice off them. He was the only Cougars to covert free throws (8 of 9, rest of the team was 0 for 6). His final field goal of the night was a slam dunk off a fast break.

"That's as complete of a game I've seen him play, both from the mental aspect and the physical aspect," Kaiser coach Branden Kawazoe said. "He kept his head the entire game. That's something we've been working on. All the coaches are happy for him and proud of him."

"Everyone knows Chance," McKinley coach Duane Omori said. "He's so powerful in there. He's not only tall, he's strong, so it poses a lot of problems with us. We tried to double-team, but he'd kick it out to Mahiko."

Keoua Mahiko followed with 13 points, including three 3-pointers for Kaiser.

Macjun Howard led McKinley with 12 points, followed by Danny Villejo, who had 11, including one 3-pointer. Villejo was held to three points on his only 3-pointer of the game in the second half.

"The key was to stop McKinley's guards," Kawazoe said. "They're extremely talented, can shoot the ball, can hit pull-up jumpers and finish at the rim. We had to guard Villejo just to slow him down, make him take contested jumpers. Fortunately, we stuck to the game plan and luckily, we came out on top."

Kawazoe was especially pleased with reserve guard Jalen Pinks, who had the task of defending Villejo. His play was crucial because in the first half, Kelsey Lewis aggravated his right ankle he originally injured Jan. 3 against Kalani. Saturday was his first game back.

Kalaugher gave Kaiser control of the opening tip and scored the team's first two baskets. Kaiser extended its lead to 13-3 and finished the first quarter ahead, 19-11.

Kaiser opened its lead to 26-18 Mahiko's 3-pointer, but McKinley closed its deficit to 26-24 with a 6-0 run to close the half.

McKinley tied the game at 29 on Howard basket with an assist from Villejo at 5:57 in the third quarter. But Kalaugher accounted for eight Kaiser's last 11 points to give Kaiser a 40-37 lead after the end of the third period.

Kaiser's defense turned up the pressure, outscoring the Tigers 12-4 in the fourth period. McKinley had not scored in the last four minutes of the game.

"As a team, we lot a little lost and confused," Omori said. "We depend so much on Dan (Villejo). It's good for us to understand other people need to step up and execute. We he gets the ball, a lot of guys just stand around instead of move. We need to move a little around and get open shots."