Moanalua holds off Radford on second day of Jim Alegre Invitational


Moanalua's Skylar Miyasato (2) goes for the layup in the fourth quarter against the Rams in the 23rd Annual Alegre Invitational at Radford's Jim Alegre Gymnasium. CJ Caraang | SL

ALIAMANU — Four Na Menehune players scored in double figures as Moanalua held off host Radford, 61-56 on the second day of the 23rd Annual Jim Alegre Invitational at Jim Alegre Gymnasium.

Skylar Miyasato scored a team-high 18 points, four steals and shot 6 of 8 from the free throw line.

"Offensively, Skylar is a high-IQ basketball player, he's always under control. You saw at the end, I put the ball in his hands. That's a guy we're going to rely on in big moments to make the right play. So far in our three games, he done it," Moanalua coach Brandon Dumlao said.

Michael Barcelona added 13 points on two 3-pointers and bigs Cyrus Faradineh and Colby Casinas each added 11 points.

Moanalua pulled away and took a 17-11 lead going into the second quarter off Casinas' putback.

Radford kept the game within striking distance but Na Menehune went on a 11-4 run as Casinas and Faradineh crashed the glass for points and took a 33-22 at halftime.

Both combined for nine offensive rebounds that gave Moanalua extra possessions despite fighting foul trouble in the second half.

"The foul trouble with our two bigs, we were trying to pound it inside and they did a good job adjusting in the second half which made it difficult to pass it in," Dumlao said. "Those guys are the core of our team and everything goes through them. We want to play inside out with pace."

Moanalua's aggressiveness on the offensive side led to trips to the free throw line and shot 10 of 12 in the first half.

Na Menehune took its biggest lead in the third quarter, 41-24 off of Miyasato's floater but the Rams chipped away. Radford got the game down to single digits after Jaylen Dumas splashed a 3-pointer from the right wing and trailed, 47-39 going into the fourth.

Caden Williams scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds and blocked two shots in the loss and Hawkins Souffrant added 12. Williams split the double bonus free throws to whittle the deficit down to four with 5:10 left in the fourth.

"We're not young in a sense, but we're inexperienced. It's a turnover from our squad from last year. We needed a game like this after last night and struggling in the half court," Dumlao said.

Barcelona extended the lead back to eight after a triple from the right corner to force a Ram timeout and had a nifty up-and-under layup to keep the lead at eight.

Austin Oguma, who was 0 for 8 from the perimeter, saw his first three drop from the right wing to make it, 61-52.

"At the end of the day, we knocked down some free throws and some big threes at the end. He is the best shooter on our squad. A night like this is very rare, we expect big things from that guy," Dumlao said.

Williams scored the final 10 points for the Rams on drives to the basket but Radford could not get any closer.

Freshman guard Jeremy Garner got minutes off the bench and contributed defensive effort and four rebounds.

"Last night, it was my fault Jeremy didn't play that much. I went home and said we have to unleash this dude. Honestly, without him tonight, we might not win. He brought that energy and spark on defense we really needed. He's came out of nowhere for us. A young like that and being composed as he was at the end is going to be huge for us," Dumlao said.

Moanalua concludes the Invitational against Mid-Pacific on Saturday at 3:30 pm while Radford faces Lahainaluna at 1:45 pm.



Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].