Kahuku survives late Kailua rally, 49-46

Johnny Wilson | Special to SL

KAILUA – Kahuku survived a scare when Everett Torres-Kahapea's 3-pointer missed with under a second left in a 49-46 win against Kailua Tuesday night at the Harry Murai Gymnasium.

Kailua trailed 49-43 with 26 seconds left when Zach Marrotte cut the Surfriders' deficit to 49-46 with a 3-pointer. On Kahuku's ensuing possession, Bradlee Anae was fouled while trying for a layup with 19 seconds left, but missed both free throws to keep it a one-possession game. Christian Mejia came down with the rebound of the second missed free throw and brought the ball down court before Kailua called time with 15 seconds to set up a game-tying 3-pointer. Kailua missed two 3-point tries against the long-arm Red Raiders' defense, the second miss coming just before the buzzer. The missed shot went out of bounds with 7/10ths of a second left. The game ended with a Kahuku inbounds pass.

The Red Raiders improved to 6-4 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I East and still have a chance at the division's fourth seed for the 12-team league tournament. The Surfriders fell to 5-5 and will be the East's sixth seed regardless the outcomes of Thursday's regular season finales.

Kahuku closes the season by hosting Farrington. A win will make the Red Raiders 7-4. Moanalua (7-3) will host division-leader Kaiser (9-1). A Moanalua loss will drop Na Menehune to 7-4. Should Kahuku and Moanalua finish with 7-4 records, Kahuku beat Moanalua, 57-55, on Jan. 14, for the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The top six teams from each division qualify for the OIA tournament. Farrington (3-7) has already been eliminated for postseason.

"The guys played well ," Kahuku interim coach Brandyn Akana said. "At times, up and down. If we're going to be a good team, we can't do that. We gotta be solid the whole time."

There was size and strength on each side, but Kahuku's was relentless. Of its 21 field goals made, 19 were in the paint. Kahuku's bigs – 6-foot-4 Hirkley Latu and 6-5 Bradlee Anae – paced the inside scoring for 15 and 10 points, respectively. Guard Kieran Spencer, though 6-1, played big, scoring 11 points and leading his team with seven rebounds, including two putbacks.

"That's been our plan," Akana said of his team's emphasis on the inside game. "We've got bigs, they can score. That's a good recipe for pounding it inside and we've been doing it all year."

Kahuku pretty much led most of the game after snapping an 8-all game midway through the first quarter. It took a 26-23 lead into the half, but saw the Surfriders take the lead for the first time since the first period when Kawehe Kohatsu scored with 6:57 in the third period. But Kahuku regained the lead for good a minute later on an Anae basket.

Kailua used two late 3-pointers to ignite a rally. Torre-Kahapea drained a 3 with 56 seconds left that pulled Kailua to 48-43. Kahuku made it 49-43 with 37 seconds left when Spencer made one of two free throws.

After Marrotte's 3-pointer with 26 seconds made it a one-possession game, Anae missed two free throws that could have made it a two-possession game. But Kailua failed twice at making a game-tying 3. Kahuku's long arms certainly made it hard for Kailua to get clear shots, but the Surfriders also did not execute screens properly.

"We wanted to get Everett Torres (Kahapea) a shot, but we didn't even screen on the last play.

"Kahuku's wide and physical. It was a good physical night for us to play somebody that plays just as physical as us. Our guys learned tonight. We had two options on that play and we didn't even hit both options. Everett got the ball, but he didn't get a clear shot."

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].