Kaiser's Keoua Mahiko drives the basket against Kahuku. Mahiko had a team-high 25 points in a win over the Red Raiders. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Tue, Jan 12, 2016 @ Kaiser

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Kahuku

62

Kaiser

76

Final	1	2	3	4
Kahuku (9-6, 18-13)	26	4	12	20	62
Kaiser (12-2, 28-7)	9	19	26	22	76

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

K. Mahiko 25 pts  1 3pm  10/10 FTs

H. Latu 29 pts  1 3pm  8/9 FTs

C. Kalaugher 15 tot  6 off  9 def

B. Anae 6 tot  3 off  3 def

K. Mahiko 2 ast

K. Spencer 2 ast

Kaiser struggled in the early going against Kahuku, but rebounded nicely in the second and third quarters to come away with a 76-62 win in front of a crowd of about 300 at Kaiser Gymnasium.

What on the surface looks like a comfortable 14-point win was anything but for the freshly-minted number one team in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Power Rankings.

The Cougars struggled early with the Red Raiders' full court press, and quickly fell behind 5-0. The lead for Kahuku expanded to 11-2 midway through the first, as forward Hirkley Latu had his way on the block with the smaller Kaiser wings.

Compounding the situation was a quick second foul on Keoua Mahiko at the 5:47 mark of the opening quarter, forcing the Cougars to sit their playmaking guard for the remainder of the first, and an 0-of-7 start from the field for forward Chance Kalaugher didn't help either.

Mahiko returned to the court in the second quarter, as did a much more energetic Cougars team, one that outscored the visiting team 10-2 to open the quarter and extended to a 15-2 spurt before Cody Sauvao broke the run with a basket at 1:39 mark in the second.

"My coach told us we're going to have to pick up the energy," said Mahiko. "We came out flat in the first quarter, and I'm just glad we got to put it all together."

During that stretch, Mahiko accounted for 7 points and Isaiah Akiona 6, as Kalaugher continued to struggle from the field. He missed his first 11 shots before finally making good on his twelvth attempt with just 2.8 ticks left in the half.

Furious rally by the home team aside, Kahuku led at halftime, 30-28, with Latu leading the way with 10.

The Red Raiders continued to hold a slim margin until the 3:11 mark in the third, when Mahiko hit a mid-range jumper to give the Cougars its first lead of the contest.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Jalen Pinks and Isaiah Akiona stretched the margin to 50-39 with 1:56 left in the third, as the Cougars seized control of the game.

Kalaugher came alive after intermission, scoring 16 of 22 points in the second half and added a game-high 15 rebounds.

"All he (Kalaugher) needed to do was keep his head. He was forcing some shots in the first half, but he settled in, got rebounds and buckets, and came up big like he always does," said Mahiko.

Kawazoe agreed.

"I told him don't press," said Kawazoe of Kalaugher. "Let the game come to him. He was rushing a lot, forcing some things and I told him don't worry the game is a process, it take awhile to get in the flow sometimes."

Kalaugher definitely settled, and it showed, as he finished 6-of-7 from the floor to close out the game.

Equally as impressive on the other side of the court was Latu, who finished with a game-high 29 points and consistently found space to operate on the low block or inside foul line, swished a three-pointer from the right wing and also made 8-of-9 attempts from the charity stripe.

Ultimately though, it was work that Mahiko put in during his three-plus quarters of play that was the difference. He fouled out in the latter stages, but took an early seat on the bench with quite the stat line: a team-high 25 points to go along with three rebounds, three steals, two assists and a block. He also hit all ten of his free-throw attempts.

"Keoua is a guy we know is going to be there for us night in and night out, his energy, his passion, his enthusiasm, and his durability. He's a big reason why we're having a little bit of success," said Kawazoe.

Kaiser outscored Kahuku in the second and third quarters by a 45-16 margin, with 20 of those points courtesy of Mahiko and 11 from Kalaugher.