Moanalua's Aaron Stuart goes up for a layup attempt against McKinley. Peter Caldwell | SL

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Moanalua's Antoine Hines battles McKinley's Dan Villejo for control of the basketball. Peter Caldwell | SL

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McKinley's Dayton Lee puts up a jumper against Moanalua. Peter Caldwell | SL

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Moanalua's Karson Cruz heads to the basket for shot attempt against McKinley. Peter Caldwell | SL

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Thu, Jan 30, 2014 @ McKinley

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Moanalua

73

McKinley

68

F/OT	1	2	3	4	OT
Moanalua (10-5, 17-12)	13	17	20	14	9	73
McKinley (6-5, 14-7)	23	18	14	9	4	68

M. Otarra 19 pts  1/1 FTs

A. Hines 22 pts  3 3pm  1/6 FTs

No. 9 Moanalua rallied in the second half to defeat McKinley, 73-68 in overtime at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium on Thursday night. Moanalua had four scorers in double digits and the Na Menehune outscored the Tigers 9-4 in the overtime period and shot 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from the free throw line. Despite shooting 51.7 percent (15-of-29) from the free throw line for the game, Moanalua was able to make it when it counted. The Na Menehune improves to 8-2 in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red East, while McKinley drops to 5-5. 

"I feel like it brings us closer together when we pull off a win like this because we bailed them out in the beginning to let them get a decent lead and when we pulled it together, we played defense without fouling: team defense/help side defense and helped us close the deficit and go to overtime where we finished it off," said Moanalua's Aaron Stuart. 

"As dysfunctional as we are sometimes when things are going bad, when they got momentum and have a chance to win the game, they find ways to get it done. They play all-year round, they're a confident group and seasoned. I think they're hungry for these types of situations. To their credit they performed. We stunk at the free throw line in the first half and even in the third quarter, but down the stretch we made free throws when we needed to and that's what good teams do," said Moanalua coach Byron Mello, on his team's resiliency. 

Aaron Stuart and Antoine Hines scored 22 points each and both were instrumental in Moanalua's second half comeback, especially in the third quarter. Karson Cruz added 13 points and Jamaal Willis contributed 12 points. 

Moanalua led 69-64 in overtime after Aaron Stuart hit both free throws. Macjun Otarra cut the deficit to three, 71-68 and the Tigers called timeout with 14 seconds remaining. However, down the stretch, McKinley came up empty on the offensive end. Jamaal Willis was fouled and sank 1-of-2 free throws to put the Na Menehune up, 72-68. McKinley's Dayton Lee's 3-point attempt from the right wing was no good and Moanalua's Aljohn Bumanglag secured the rebound and was fouled with a second remaining. He made 1-of-2 free throws to put the game well out-of-reach. 

"Moanalua is a run-and-gun team. We wanted to play good half court defense, don't gamble. It looked like they started off slow too and we converted so things were going our way. Byron got those kids playing well. Hines, Willis were hitting tough shots. We're pretty similar, quick, not as tall but we're an athletic team. Moanalua has some players that they know how to finish at the end and we're still learning on that part," said McKinley coach Duane Omori. 

With the game tied at 64, McKinley called a timeout with 12 seconds remaining. Following the timeout, Lee had a good look at the basket, but it didn't fall and Moanalua grabbed the rebound. 

"It was good for us, we've been through these kind of games, so we did set up and had our spacing correctly. We're happy with Dayton with the ball, he's a veteran senior and he's a confident player. We had a good look but it didn't fall in, it didn't work for us," said Omori. 

Prior to that, Antoine Hines hit a jumper near the free throw line to tie the game at 64 and Moanalua called a timeout with 45 seconds remaining. 

The Na Menehune led very early in the first quarter, but for most of the game, they had to battle back.  

In the third quarter, Moanalua outscored McKinley 20-14. Stuart (12 points) and Hines (eight points) combined for all of Moanalua's third quarter points. Stuart was responsible for the Na Menehune's 10-0 run to start the quarter. 

"Everyone could've played better. I felt I gave the team a good push in the second half to come away with this win. Basically we were better than that and we had to come out in the second half to prove we were better," said Stuart. 

"The guy has an uncanny ability to be around the ball and finish at the rim. It's amazing. I challenged him a couple weeks ago and said if you can rebound offensively a little bit more, you got an extra six or eight points every game and I think he responded to that, he has great timing, knows where the ball is going to go, great finisher around the basket," said Mello on Stuart. 

Antoine Hines added eight points and hit two 3-pointers both from the left corner. He hit a 3-pointer and was fouled for a rare 4-point play opportunity. However, he missed the free throw and Moanalua trailed, 52-48. He had a reverse layup near the end of the quarter and the Na Menehune trailed 55-50 heading into the fourth quarter. 

The Na Menehune trailed by double digits in the second quarter, but cut the deficit to three after Karson Cruz had a rebound and putback to make it 23-20 and the Tigers called timeout at 5:52. However, the Tigers extended the lead to 10 numerous times after 3-pointers from Lee and Brennan Waters. Lee hit both free throws to give the Tigers an 11 point lead, 41-30 heading into halftime. 

"As bad as our defense was in the first half and it was an 11 point lead, we felt the pace of the game was suited to the way we like to play. An 11 point lead was more like a five or six point lead at the tempo we were playing at. I think McKinley was able to match us in an up-and-down game, I was impressed how quickly they got up and down the court. To the kid's credit, we made adjustments at halftime, they bought into it, listened and executed it. Every regular season game in the East is just a dog fight," said Mello. 

McKinley outscored Moanalua 23-13 in the first quarter. Macjun Otarra (nine points) and Dayton Lee (seven points) combined for 16 of McKinley's 23 quarter points. Otarra finished the game with a team-high 19 points, Lee had 15 points, Dan Villejo added 14 points and Nelson Pita chipped in 10 points.  

"After Kalaheo beat them, Alika Smith said they are no 4-4 team (now 5-5) and I see what he means. They can shoot, they play well together, they're gritty and fast," said Mello, echoing the same sentiments on McKinley. 

Moanalua will close out the OIA Red East regular season at Kailua on Feb. 1 while McKinley goes to Anuenue on the same night.