Kaiser weathers Kailua comeback in big road win


Brien Ing | SL

Kaiser picked up a key road win over Kailua, 43-39, jumping out an early double digit lead before weathering a steady Kailua comeback.

Kailua's full court press, especially in the second half, created its share of problems for Kaiser, but five offensive fouls called on the Cougars were a bigger cause for concern, wiping would be points off the board and definitely help fuel the Surfriders' comeback.

With leading scorer Mario Drummer held in check by Kailua's bigs and post Cyrus Singelman in foul trouble, Kenji Toyama, Dylan Hickcox and Dane Tsue took on the scoring load, accounting for 12 of Kaiser's 21 second half points.

Tsue's three point hit with less than 6 seconds left in the third was particularly clutch, as it pushed the Cougars' lead to four, swinging the momentum away from the Surfriders, who tied the game up at 24-all at midway point of the third and seemed poised to push ahead.

Nainoa Peters, who poured in a game-high 17 points in the loss, cleaned up a Surfriders' miss to get the home team within 33-31 at 5:05 in the fourth, but that was as close as Kailua would get.

A Toyama drive down the lane led to a bounce pass to Hickcox, who had the easy finish to extend the lead to 37-31 with 3:48 to play, and Toyama added a sweet floating runner for good measure at the 2:26 to keep the lead at 6. He finished with a team-high 10.

Kailua went into desparation mode in the final 30 ticks, and made things more than interesting, as a Peters' drive plus the foul cut the lead to 41-36 with 0:22 to go and Michael Kim's three from the left wing trimmed the Cougars' lead to just 42-39 with 12 seconds to play.

Peters' final heave from three glanced off the front of the rim to end it.

A four-way log jam atop the OIA East Division I standings is now a trio, as Kahuku and Kalaheo both kept pace with wins of their own over Kaimuki and Roosevelt respectively.