Moanalua's Kyrie McRaven puts up a shot in the paint against Kaiser. McRaven lead the way for Na Menehune with a game-high 16 points in the win. Peter Caldwell | SL

Purchase image 1 of 1

Tue, Jan 13, 2015 @ Moanalua

---

Kaiser

42

Moanalua

50

Final	1	2	3	4
Kaiser (9-4, 24-8)	11	13	3	15	42
Moanalua (8-7, 16-14)	10	21	9	10	50

K. McRaven 16 pts  6/7 FTs

K. Mahiko 13 pts  1 3pm  4/8 FTs

SALT LAKE — Kyrie McRaven scored 16 points as Moanalua pulled away from Kaiser, 50-42 at Moanalua's gymnasium on Tuesday night. The Na Menehune improve to 3-1 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association East standings while the Cougars fall to 2-2.

McRaven shot 6 of 7 from the free throw line and scored 12 of his 16 points in the second quarter, grabbed 11 rebounds for the game and blocked two shots.

"Overall it was a team effort," said McRaven. "Without my teammates getting me the ball and finding the right opportunities and so I give it to them. I knew the game was going to be close in the second half, my mentality was to come out with energy and to know that Chance (Kalaugher) was going to do something so I had to prepare myself."

"He's extremely hard to guard around the rim and what sets him apart is he's relentless around the rim. He has long arms and good timing so if he misses the first shot, he has a great opportunity to get a second and third shot. Because he's athletic, he can make those types of plays and his inside presence is a huge difference for us," said Moanalua coach Byron Mello, on McRaven.

The 6-foot-5 Kalaugher was hampered with foul trouble, but managed to score nine of his 10 points in the fourth and grabbed 12 rebounds for the game.

Kaiser took a 11-10 lead after the first quarter and Keoua Mahiko scored six of his 13 points in the quarter.

Chance Kalaugher picked up his second foul in the second quarter and Moanalua took advantage.

McRaven tied the game at 17 after a shot in the paint and his two free throws helped the Na Menehune recapture the lead. Moanalua went up 24-19 after a putback from Christian Casinas. However, Kaiser cut the deficit to 24-22 after Isaiah Akiona hit a 3-pointer. McRaven had a 3-point play and sank two free throws as Moanalua took a 31-24 lead at halftime.

"We need to play our offense from inside-out. That's something we go back to again and again with our kids," said Mello.

Moanalua went on a 7-0 run to start the third after a 3-pointer from Domenick Bailey. Jonah Chinen scored the Cougars' first points at the 3:24 mark after making 1 of 2 free throws. Kalaugher picked up his fourth foul at the 2:34 mark. The Na Menehune managed to outscore the Cougars, 9 to 3 to take a 40-27 lead going into the fourth.

"Once we saw he was in foul trouble, we went at him," said McRaven.

"In all the games we struggled, Chance has been in foul trouble in all the losses and hasn't been able stay in the game much. If that's one thing we can hang our hat on is that he was able to play basically a quarter and a half with four fouls and that was nice to see," said Kaiser coach Branden Kawazoe.

Kalaugher made his first field goal at a little over the 6:40 mark and the Cougars opened up on a 7-0 run to start the fourth. His 3-point play made it 40-34. The Cougars managed to cut the deficit to five but couldn't get any closer.

"We battled in the second half it was a lot about our character and testament to the boys for competing. We couldn't do the little things and couldn't make free throws and make stops down the stretch. This was one I thought if we played well enough, we could've got, but again against good things you have to do the little things and didn't take care of it," said Kawazoe.

With the score at 45-40, McRaven picked up a technical foul with 1:12 remaining, but Kaiser could not capitalize as Mahiko missed both free throws.

"He knows better that," said Mello. "We don't say anything to the referees and it came at an inopportune time."

The Cougars shot 3 of 12 (25 percent) from the line in the fourth quarter and 10 of 29 (34.5 percent) for the game.

"Free throws killed us, it could've been a two or three point swing," said Kawazoe.

"I think our inexperience shows through at certain points in the game, tonight it was early in the fourth. What I was pleased with was we were able to make plays down the stretch and made free throws. As bad as were on the defensive side, we were able to get rebounds and stops when we needed to. We are a work in progress and we're moving in the right direction, and I got a great group of kids and they have good character that comes to light in situations like that," said Mello.

Moanalua shot 8 of 14 (57.1 percent) from the line in the quarter and showed poise as they knocked down 6 of 7 free throws down the 1 minute stretch. Bailey, who scored 11 points for the game, went 4 of 4 from the line in the quarter.

"It was about mental toughness and we made free throws when we needed to. We have to know that we aren't going to win by a big margin every game, we come in and we have to know that. Our coaches tell us to play smart, play tough and that's what we did tonight," said McRaven.

Moanalua will play at No. 6 Farrington on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. while Kaiser takes on McKinley at the Tigers' Student Council Gymnasium on the same night.