Boys Basketball
Phillips’ triple-double powers No. 3 Oak Hill over Kamehameha


  



Tue, Dec 16, 2014 @ Iolani


Final 1 2 3 4  
Oak Hill 21 22222792
Kamehameha (3-9, 11-15) 5 7 5 017
F. Sua-Godinet 5 pts  1 3pm
A. Fleming 18 pts  6 3pm
P. Hanohano-Hashimoto 2 tot  2 def
D. Giddens 12 tot  4 off  8 def

The talented Warriors from Virginia were just too much for the Warriors of Kapalama.

Point guard Terrence Phillips notched a triple-double of 11 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists to lead Oak Hill (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) over Kamehameha, 92-17 in the opening round of the 31st annual Iolani Classic Tuesday night. Phillips, who is the younger brother of current Detroit Piston Brandon Jennings, has offers from Auburn, East Tennessee State and Western Kentucky. 

"He's kind of our glue guy, he makes us go," said Oak Hill coach Steve Smith who is in his 30th year with the program. "He's the guy who makes the game faster and speed things up, He also pressures other team's point guards and causes them problems on the other side of the floor."

Oak Hill, who is ranked third in the country by USA Today, is making its ninth appearance in the Iolani Classic and improved to 31-2 all-time in the 16-team tourney. The most recent appearance by the Warriors was in 2012 when they took third place. Smith and the rest of the team hopes to improve on their finish two years ago and notch their seventh Iolani Classic title.

"We hope so. We've got a really good team this year, a lot of depth," said Smith. "Obviously our goal is to get to the finals and do whatever we can to win the tournament. We didn't win the last time. The last time we lost before was that was in the 80's." 

The Warriors' impressive frontcourt benefitted the most from the playmaking ability of Phillips. Future Ohio State Buckeye Daniel Giddens had a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds. Penn State commit Joe Hampton added 12 points and reserve posts Khadim Sy and Rodney Miller combined for 18 points and 17 rebounds. 

"We've got four really good front courts guys. We rotate those guys in to keep them fresh. They're all good players, they'd be stars if they were in another school, but they share time here," said Smith. "Giddens is the most physical of the bunch and Joe Hampton is probably the most skilled. Those two start and we bring the other two guys to back them up." 

Leading the Warriors in scoring was future Iowa Hawkeye Andrew Fleming. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard had a cold first half, but knocked down five of his six triples to finish with 18 points. All five Oak Hill starters scored in double figures with Joshua Reaves rounding out the bunch with 10 points and a game-high three blocked shots.

Kamehameha's biggest point contributor was Fatu Sua-Godinet with five points. Kamren Victorina-Kato, Saint Gelacio and Kobe Young each added three points to bolster the Warriors' scoring.

Oak Hill started the contest on a 19-0 run that was highlighted by some flair in the opening minutes. The Warriors' first score of the game was on Gidden's weak side dunk on an alley-oop pass from Phillips. Reaves would force a steal on the ensuing possession and take it coast to coast for a score. 

The Warriors next score was a bang-bank play that had Gidden blocking a shot towards Phillips, who whipped it ahead to Reaves for a score and a foul. Kamehameha would not score until the 2:09 mark of the first quarter. Sua-Godinet canned a triple to give Kamehameha a mini 5-0 run, but Sy's putback made it 21-5 at the end of the opening period. 

Oak Hill continued to dominate through the rest of the first half to make it a 31-point game at the break. 

In the end Oak Hill was too much for Kamehameha and the Warriors rolled to an easy first round victory. Kamehameha also was unable to score a point in the fourth quarter.

Oak Hill will advance to face host Iolani in the 8 p.m. quarterfinal on Thursday. The Raiders dispatched Kauai, 68-37 in the game that preceded the one between Oak Hill and Kamehameha.

"They're well coached. We played them in the past. They do a good job. Obviously we have a size advantage -- hopefully we'll guard them like we did tonight and cause some problems on the defensive end so we get some run outs and some easy shots. We have to make sure our height is an advantage and not a disadvantage," Smith said on Iolani.

Smith and the rest of the Warriors is hoping to get the services of Dwayne Bacon in their upcoming contest against Iolani, Bacon, a Florida State commit, was held out against Kamehameha due to a sickness.



Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].




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