Red-hot Kamehameha scorches Mid-Pacific to extend winning streak

Zion Donnell (23) scored in transition off a steal and led all scorers with 16 points. Brandon Ching | SL

Zion Donnell scored a game-high 16 points and four Warriors added seven to help No. 7 Kamehameha-Kapalama trounce Mid-Pacific, 74-32 at Kekuhaupio Gymnasium Thursday.

After dropping their first two Interscholastic League of Honolulu games to Iolani and Maryknoll in that order, the Warriors pulled off their third-straight victory to improve to 3-2.

"The guys stick together and believe in each other. We lost Chaseton (Ponteras) in the last week of preseason. So they never doubted each other and never doubted us so they kept working and after the first two games, they didn't complain and showed up and kept working," Kamehameha coach Larry Park said.

Logan Mason led the Owls with seven and Darius Chizer added six on a pair of 3-pointers but dropped to 0-5 in the ILH.

Mid-Pacific made it tough on Kamehameha early on until the Warriors found their footing offensively. Chizer tied the game at 5 with a 3-pointer but Donnell scored the next four points and found Alika Harbottle for a 3-pointer to end the quarter on a 7-0 run.

"They were real patient offensively in the first two possessions and proud of our guys just staying locked in to what they were supposed to do and not make it easy. Our guys locked in and kept battling and I was proud of that," Park said.

The run continued for the Warriors and they turned up the pressure defensively to get their offense going to open the second quarter on a 16-2 run.

Donnell mixed it up scoring in transition, draining a 3-pointer, and getting to the rim in the second quarter.

"He's that guy. We talked after that Maryknoll game, we tried to get one or two transition buckets a quarter. I thought we done that in these next three games to get our offense going. It's an easy bucket or free throw. He does that for us, he sees that space and takes it for transition buckets," Park said of Donnell.

Cole Kodama stopped the bleeding and scoring drought by completing a three-point play at the 2:25 mark. The Warriors answered with a 7-2 run to close the period and went up, 35-14 at halftime.

"The defensive effort was unbelievable. They were sharing the ball to get open shots against their zone. We had great inside looks and outside looks. The boys did a good job and finding space and knocking it down," Park said.

Kamehameha outscored Mid-Pacific 17 to 14 in the third quarter and 22 to 4 in the final stanza. Both teams emptied their benches in the second half.

The Warriors begin the second part of the round robin and host Iolani (2-3) on Saturday while the Owls go to Saint Louis (4-1) on the same night.

Both teams will play each other again at Mid-Pacific's Mills Gymnasium on Jan. 24 to end the ILH regular season.

Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].