Noah Ah Yat drove into the lane for the game-winning shot with three seconds remaining to lift the Surfriders past the Mustangs. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Wed, Jan 20, 2016 @ Kailua

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Kalaheo

52

Kailua

54

Final	1	2	3	4
Kalaheo (12-2, 25-7)	9	21	6	16	52
Kailua (8-7, 18-14)	12	15	15	12	54

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

C. Mejia 23 pts  5/6 FTs

C. Whitlock 27 pts  5 3pm  4/8 FTs

C. Mejia 10 tot  3 off  7 def

A. Layi 5 tot  2 off  3 def

C. Mejia 2 ast

A. Layi 2 ast

KAILUA — Noah Ah Yat drove the lane and hit a floating five-footer with three seconds left to lift Kailua to a 54-52 upset of previously-unbeaten Kalaheo Wednesday night.

Christian Mejia registered a double-double with a team-high 23 points and 10 rebounds as the Surfriders (19-11 overall) captured their third straight win to even their record at 4-4 in the Eastern Division of the Oahu Interscholastic Association.

With the win Kailua keeps pace with Kahuku for fifth-place in the East and increases its chances of punching a ticket for the postseason. The top six teams in the the seven-team division qualify for the league tournament, which gets underway in two weeks.

"It helps us big time," Surfriders coach Wally Marciel said. "It gets us closer to a playoff spot and it's a rivalry game. I can't remember when Kailua last beat Kalaheo. I mean, it's been many, many years and it was time. Our message tonight in our locker room, in our huddle all night was that it's time."

Kailua held a 42-36 lead after three quarter, but allowed 11 straight points by the visitors to start the final period.

Mejia hit a free throw to halt the Kalaheo run with 3:57 to play, which kickstarted a 10-2 run for the Surfriders. Zach Marrotte — a Kalaheo transfer — hit a 3-pointer from the left corner with 3:20 remaining to pull Kailua within 49-46.

Hano Kohatsu then made both ends of a 1-and-1 before the Mustangs turned it over and Ah Yat drained two more free throws to put his team ahead, 50-28.

Kalaheo turned it over for the second time in as many possessions and Mejia tipped in a outback to stretch Kailua's lead to three. However, Kalaheo's Captain Whitlock hit a 3-pointer from straight away about 10 seconds later to deadlock things at 52 with 1:32 to play.

The teams exchanged possessions before Kailua eventually got the ball back with just under a minute left. It held for the final shot, but not before calling a final timeout with 10 seconds remaining.

Ah Yat received the inbounds pass and drove the left side of the lane before pulling up from about five feet away and draining the go-ahead bucket.

"Coach told me to attack the basket and penetrate (because) we were in the double-bonus, so we were hoping to get fouled and shoot the free throws, but there was no call and it just went in," said Ah Yat, who finished with a season-high 14 points, including a pair of first-half 3-pointers. "They just trusted in me. All my teammates trusted me."

Marciel said the final play was going to go through Ah Yat no matter what.

"Noah wanted it; If anybody was going to go score that bucket, it was Noah Ah Yat," Marciel said. "He just wanted it. His leadership was tremendous. During the game he's dribbling, creating, trying to get fouled. He hits two big free throws over here, but if anybody was going to shoot that ball it was Noah because he wanted it badly."

Kalaheo had a chance to tie or take the lead in the closing seconds but Kekai Smith's 10-foot jumper bounced off the rim as time expired.

"Kailua made some good plays and they finished," Mustangs coach Rob Pardini said. "They made some free throws, too. They were in the double-bonus — we had some foul trouble — and it was one of those games that could go either way when you get down to the fourth quarter and get tight. Kekai had a good look at the end there. He'd probably make nine out of 10 tries from there."

Kailua shot 51.5 percent (17 of 33) from the field and 17 of 23 on free throws. It outrebounded Kalaheo by a margin of 23 to 16. Mejia, a 6-foot-4 junior post, was an efficient 9-of-11 shooting from the field and also had a team-high three steals.

"Christian just played a phenomenal game tonight," Marciel said. "He wants it. I don't know how to express how hard he plays. Seeing him dive on the floor and wanting the ball … it was a phenomenal game for him tonight. Phenomenal."

The 23 points were a season-high for Mejia, who also anchored the top of the Surfriders' zone defense, which the Mustangs struggled with at times.

"They ran a 3-2 and a 1-2-2 (zone) and they disguise it well and they're long because they've got some size, so I think it's a great test for us, because our zone offense needs a lot of work and we get big guys like Christian playing in the middle and playing up top like that, that's tough to defend and that's a great look for them," Pardini said.

Hano Kohatsu added 11 points and nine rebounds for Kailua, which was in the midst of a four-game losing streak a little more than week ago.

"We were struggling earlier in the year but we're putting it together now," Ah Yat said. "We're playing as a team and we've been doing that lately and we're finding ways."

Whitlock scored 14 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter. He made five of Kalaheo's six 3-pointers in the game. Layi scored 11 of his 15 points in the first half and also had five rebounds and five assists — both team-high marks.

"Kailua-Kalaheo is always a tough one," said Pardini, whose team was just 8 of 14 from the free-throw line. "It's always a tight game no matter which club is better than the other. We'll get better from this. We're getting some guys healthy now so I think we're actually going to be a little stronger from this loss, so I'm feeling good about it. The kids are going to be a little down, but the good thing is we play again Friday so they can come back and work hard (Thursday) in practice and get after it on Friday."

It was the first game action since Dec. 19 for Smith, who is still recovering from a knee injury. He played sparingly in his return and finished with five points.

With top-ranked Kaiser falling to Roosevelt (62-58 in overtime) and No. 10 McKinley holding off Farrington (48-42) Wednesday night, the Mustangs (18-5 overall) remain in a three-way tie atop the East standings.

Kalaheo holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over McKinley by virtue of a season-opening 46-35 win in their head-to-head meeting.

Both teams return to the court Friday when Kalaheo hosts Kaimuki and Kailua visits Farrington.