Stribling's putback rescues Kapolei in road win over Aiea


Michael Lasquero | ScoringLive
January 2, 2020, 10:26pm

Kapolei's De'Zhaun Stribling goes up for a layup against Aiea in the opening quarter of an OIA West matchup Thursday night. Michael Lasquero | SL

A relentless comeback attempt by the home team did not stop De'Zhaun Stribling from delivering the dagger.

The Kapolei senior's putback at the buzzer helped the visiting Hurricanes deny Aiea in a 60-59 win in an OIA West contest Thursday night.

Stribling led all scorers with 18 points and two made 3-pointers to lead Kapolei to its first win of the regular season.

The Hurricanes (1-1 league) led by as many as 15 points - 28 to 13 - in the second quarter, but Na Alii rallied to make it a 35-30 game at the half thanks to a pair of late triples by Braeden Fujimoto and Kamaka Seto in the period.

Fujimoto also had a buzzer-beating trey to end the third quarter to keep Aiea within striking distance down 50-42 to start the final period of play.

Na Alii (0-2) then started to pick up the pace after a Jayden Tabudlo basket and another 3-pointer by Fujimoto that cut the Hurricanes' lead to three with 7:06 remaining in regulation.

A number of missed free throws prevented Kapolei from pulling away and Aiea was able to capitalize. A transition basket by Seto made it a 58-55 game with 2:10 to play. He followed that up with a steal, bucket and the foul to bring Na Alii within one point with 1:20 remaining.

Seto could not complete the three-point play to tie the game, but Na Alii managed to take the lead with 33.7 on the clock after Tabudlo got past a Kapolei defender near the top of the key. Tabudlo was fouled on the basket, but could not complete the free throw which left the score at 59-58.

The Hurricanes called timeout after the play, and called timeout again with 6.4 on the clock after good defense by Na Alii. Ethan Wright took a shot near the left baseline that was well-defended, but Stribling was able to corral the rebound - even from one of his own teammates - to make his only basket of the fourth quarter the most important one of the game.

Wright was the second-leading scorer for the Hurricanes with 10 points. Bryce Mesa was solid off the bench with nine points.

Kapolei as a whole shot 11-for-28 from the free throw line.

Nathaniel Okamoto led four Aiea players in double figures with 16 points. Tabudlo was the next best with 12 points off the bench to give Aiea a much-needed presence down low.

Seto had 11 points while Fujimoto knocked down four jumpers - three triples - and finished with 11 points as well.


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