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Kalani Takase | ScoringLiveFebruary 21, 2014, 11:41pm
While the Division I final of the Hawaiian Airlines/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Boys Basketball State Championships will see the top two seeds do battle, the D2 title game features a pair of unseeded teams each seeking its first state crown.
Kalani, the runner-up from the Oahu Interscholastic Association, and Hawaii Prep, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation's second-place team, both have successfully navigated unlikely paths to the D2 championship Saturday.
The Falcons opened the eight-team tournament Thursday by upsetting the top-seed and defending state champion, Saint Francis, by 13 points. They followed that up by toppling fourth-seeded Kohala — the only team to have beaten HPA in the regular season this year — by an 11-point margin Friday. The same trio of Brandon Roberts, Cory Mitchell and Alexander Tungpalan led Kalani in scoring both nights. Roberts had team-highs of 18 points (against Saint Francis) and 19 (against Kohala), Mitchell scored 14 and 12 and Tungpalan 10 and 11, respectively.
Ka Makani kicked off their run to the final by knocking out second-seeded Kaiser — the OIA titlist — in a quarterfinal game Thursday, 44-41. They rallied from a 37-31 deficit after three quarters by outscoring the Cougars 13-4 in the fourth. Junior guards Hide Akai and Justin Gecas scored 13 points apiece for HPA in that game. Friday night, Gecas poured in 16 and senior forward David Ovbagbedia added 14 to help Ka Makani roll Maui Interscholastic League-champion and third-seeded Seabury Hall, 58-35. HPA was ranked as high as seventh in the ScoringLive/OC16 Boys Basketball Power Rankings a week ago, but lost to Kohala in the BIIF title game a week ago. To make matters worse, in a league semifinal win over Honokaa one night earlier, point guard Kalan Camero suffered a concussion that has kept him out of both of his team's state-tournament games so far. Just to get into states, HPA had to beat ILH third-place team, University High, in a play-in game Monday.
Fast forward to Friday night and the Falcons and Ka Makani are the last two teams standing after combining to have knocked out all four top seeds en route to Saturday's championship final. All of it has made for an unlikely week for both teams and an unlikely matchup in the D2 season finale. Tip off between Kalani and Hawaii Prep is set for 5 p.m. from the Neal S. Blaisdell Center Arena. The game will be aired live statewide on OC16.
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