Second-half surge lifts Kailua over McKinley, 58-52.

Martin Tigilau goes up for a jumper as Kailua passes host McKinley Friday night. Steve Erler | Special to SL

Noah Ah Yat scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half and Kailua beat host McKinley, 58-52, Friday night at the Student Council Gymnasium.

It was a big win for the Surfriders (1-2), who dropped their first two Oahu Interscholastic Association Eastern Division games. The Tigers (2-1) lost for the first time in league play and it doesn't get easier as they play at Kalaheo (3-0) on Tuesday.

"This was a huge game for us," Kailua coach Walter Marciel said. "We came into McKinley 0-2; they're 2-0. Good shooting team. Going home with a win is fantastic for us."

While Ah Yat provided offense from the outside, Kailua's bigs - Hano Kohatsu (13 points) and Christian Mejia (15 points) - provided muscle under the boards, combining for 15 rebounds, 10 by Kohatsu. Three of their 15 boards were converted into baskets against the shorter McKinley team.

McKinley drained eight 3-pointers, two each by Kyle Moraga, Jonah Howard and Macjun Otarra. They combined for double-digit scoring. Moraga and Howard had 13 points each, while Otarra followed with 12.

The Tigers led 25-22 late in the second period before the Surfriders went on a 5-0 run. McKinley tied it at 27 with eight seconds left on putback by Howard, who was fouled on the play. But the Tigers lost a chance to take the lead, but Howard missed the ensuing free throw.

Kailua had been hampered by first-half turnovers.

"At halftime, we talked about for us to win this game tonight, we got to cut down on turnovers, get the ball to our big guys and try to contend the 3 (-point field goals)," Marciel said. "These guys can shoot the 3, man, these guys can shoot the ball."

The second half started pretty even before Ah Yat's 3-pointer with about three minutes put Kailua in front, 36-33. But McKinley squandered a golden opportunity to tie the game when Howard could not convert a three-point play with 2:45 in the quarter. Ah Yat's second 3-pointer opened the gap to 39-35.

What helped the Surfriders in the second half was their rebounding. Kohatsu grabbed eight in the second half, two on secondary scoring. Mejia had three of his five in the second half, including a outback.

"They're key guys in the post," Marciel said of Kohatsu and Mejia, both of whom are 6 feet, 3 inches tall. "They worked hard. They lost their legs early in the fourth; we had to do some subbing. But Kohatsu really works hard in the post for us."

Kailua had 25 rebounds to McKinley's 14.

"That's kind of been our Achillies' heel," McKinley coach Duane Omori said. "We kind of stress to our kids the defensive rebounds. Defensive rebounding is going to be the key to how we go along to the rest of this season. We've been struggling with that. When we can limit teams to one shot, we become a better team."

But McKinley is never out of a game because of its 3-point shooting. Howard hit two treys in the fourth, the second tying the game at 52 with 2:06 left in the game. But Kailua clutched at the free-throw line, making six of their last 10 in the final 1:13.

Ah Yat not only aided the Surfriders with his shooting, he also controlled the offense.

"That's what we were missing last game, someone to control the ball," Marciel said.

McKinley will host Roosevelt (2-1) on Tuesday. Like Kailua's game with Kalaheo, it is big. Six teams in the East are tied at 2-1.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].