Kapolei's Ja'Shon Carter attempts a lay-up against the Tigers. He scored 16 points in the Hurricanes' Friday win. Greg Yamamoto | SL

×

_58393b59e51db.jpg - Greg Yamamoto | SL

Purchase this image
4x5 5x7 8x10 image download

Zoar Nedd (17) and Ja'Shon Carter (16) combined for 33 points to lead Kapolei past host McKinley, 63-47, on the opening day of the Hawaii Self Storage Black and Gold Classic at the Tigers' Student Council Gymnasium.

"That was our game plan and he's going to move around a lot. He's going to play all five positions," said Kapolei coach Gary Ellison.

Kapolei's length provided problems for the Tigers as they forced 15 turnovers. Nedd led the team with six of Kapolei's 12 steals and grabbed nine rebounds—one shy of posting a double-double.

"We have to win the game by attacking their guards. We can't let their guards get hot at the 3-point line. We have to disrupt everything with their guards," said Ellison.

The Hurricanes jumped out to an early, 8-2 lead forcing McKinley to call a timeout. Kapolei led, 13-8 after Kyle Moraga hit a buzzer-beating 3.

"We have a lot of inexperienced players. Decision making wasn't the greatest. We have to figure out our roles," said McKinley coach Duane Omori.

Jeremy Coloyan went 7-for-8 from the free throw line to bring the Tigers within one, 18-17. Kapolei raced out in transition to take a 26-22 lead at halftime.

"We want to try and develop the roles and figure out who we have to get the ball to and who's going to get more touches," said Omori.

McKinley has notable size in Mark Burk and a transfer Noam Buttayotee to anchor the post.

"They're raw, but they can work with that," said Ellison.

"It's something new for us. We're guard oriented, so it's going to take some time," said Omori.

The Tigers eventually tied the game up at 27. However, the Hurricanes went on a 8-0 run after Nedd's up-and-under move with 4:29 left on the clock in the third. Kapolei would outscore McKinley, 18-9 to take a 44-31 lead going into the fourth.

"We talk to our kids about patience. They want to run, run, run like at the park. It's ok to run, but you have to know when to run and when to slow down," said Ellison.

Ja'Shon Carter went to work in the fourth to score nine of his 16 points and he shot 5-for-7 from the line before fouling out. The Hurricanes got to the line 35 times, but only hit 21 of their foul shots.

"That's a huge thing we have to work on. We lost close games last year because of free throws. It's a work in progress," said Ellison.

Coloyan led the team with 18 points. Kevin Kim and Moraga added 12 each.

"We want to do less dribbling and more passing and we hope that teams have to guard all five of our guys," said Omori.

McKinley shot 15-for-29 from the free throw line. Moraga's 3-point play brought the Tigers within 10, 57-47 but at the 1:29 mark, Kapolei pulled away with a 6-0 run to seal the game.

"We want to be ones controlling the tempo and that's what we're going to be working on this preseason," said Ellison.