Kalaheo's Kekai Smith drives to the basket against McKinley. Melissa Ing | SL

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McKinley's Brennan Waters puts up a layup attempt against Kalaheo. Melissa Ing | SL

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Kalaheo's Kupa'a Harrison puts up a shot against McKinley. Brien Ing | SL

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Sat, Jan 25, 2014 @ McKinley

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Kalaheo

50

McKinley

47

Final	1	2	3	4
Kalaheo (11-3, 26-10)	13	18	6	0	50
McKinley (6-5, 14-7)	10	13	13	0	47

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

D. Lee 15 pts  5 3pm

K. Harrison 21 pts  1 3pm

D. Villejo 6 tot  3 off  3 def

D. Delcastillo 5 tot  1 off  4 def

D. Villejo 2 ast

K. Harrison 2 ast

After beating Kalani 48-46, in overtime two nights ago, Kalaheo pulled off another close victory over McKinley, 50-47 at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium on Saturday night. Kalaheo remains in first place in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red East at 7-1 while McKinley drops to 4-4 and they are currently in sixth place in the standings. 

"They got players on that other side, they're a good team. Don't let 4-4 fool you and they match up well with everybody and they shoot the ball as anybody else. We're lucky to come out with a win but our kids played hard and it was a good hard-fought battle. It helps us, they're two good teams, McKinley and Kalani and it's a battle each and every night, no matter who we play," said Alika Smith, on his team's two narrow victories. 

"Our guys, we were short-handed. We haven't had Alec Macleod, our second leading scorer all year, so we've asked Zach Marrotte, a freshman to step up and he went down with back spasms. We had other guys step up like Kela Thomas and at the end of the day, every win is a total team effort and when that happens it's gratifying, but these close ones, we can't keep doing that," added Smith. 

In the first quarter, Kalaheo got off to an 8-0 run after Kupa'a Harrison's layup and McKinley called at timeout. The Tigers clawed back and trailed 12-10 after outscoring the Mustangs 10-2 to close out the quarter. 

In the second quarter, Kekai Smith hit a 3-pointer near the top to put the Mustangs up 18-13. McKinley made a run of their own after Dayton Lee hit a 3-pointer from the right wing to cut the deficit to three, 24-21. Smith drove middle and laid it up before the buzzer sounded to make it 31-23 heading into halftime. 

To start the third quarter, the Tigers went on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 31 after Lee hit a 3-pointer by the left wing. Lee made 3-of-4 3-pointers in the quarter to score nine of his 15 points and he shot 5-of-12 for the game. McKinley cut the deficit to one after Dan Villejo hit both free throws to make it 37-36 heading into the fourth quarter. 

"I think we started off slow and we picked up the intensity. The kids were more energetic after halftime. For us, when we lose the lead, Kalaheo sets the pace, they slowed it down and it was different for us. We played good half court defense and they missed some shots and it worked our way in the third quarter," said McKinley coach Duane Omori. 

McKinley took the lead early in the fourth quarter, 41-40 after Joramae Otarra hit a fadeaway jump shot, giving the Tigers their first lead of the game. Harrison put the Mustangs up three after a putback, 44-41 and the Mustangs called a timeout. Dario Delcastillo made both free throws to give the Mustangs a slim, five point lead, 48-43. 

Macjun Otarra hit a jump shot to make it 48-47 and McKinley called a timeout. After getting fouled, Harrison made both free throws to make it 50-47. With 11 seconds remaining, McKinley's Brennan Waters drove it and his layup was no good and Kalaheo's LJ Barnes secured the rebound and was fouled. Barnes missed both free throws and McKinley had a chance to tie the game, but Erolino Javier's 3-point attempt near the top was off the mark and Delcastillo grabbed the rebound as time expired. 

"With our kids, they're better when they're playing without a play. For us, we let them create and they work well together to set up the other person. We would call timeout but I think for us we were stronger in letting it roll and we missed the 3-pointer. For us it was about penetrating in the key and kicking it out, hopefully we could draw the defense in, but our spacing wasn't good so it didn't work out for us," said Omori, on the last possession.

Kalaheo hosts Castle (2-6) on Jan. 30 while McKinley travels to Kailua (6-2) on Jan. 28.